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Rapper T.I. is finally a free man today. He was released from the halfway house where he spent the last two weeks of his eleven month sentence for parole violation, being chauffeured away from the Atlanta facility just after midnight. T.I. was released from prison on August 31 and was supposed to spend the final month of his sentence at the halfway house. Due to a misunderstanding over the rules of his furlough, he was returned to prison briefly last month, but now he can breathe a sigh of relief knowing he is a free man.
He will remain on probation for a year, during which time he’ll continue to film his new reality series for VH1.
Rapper T.I. Released From Halfway House [CNN]
[Photo: Getty Images]
T.I. (a.k.a. Clifford Harris, Jr.) remains in prison at the moment for supposedly violating the terms of his furlough, but his lawyer and manager are disputing the Bureau of Prisons report that has landed him in hot water.
Back on August 31, the rapper was released from prison and sent to serve the last month of his sentence in a halfway house. T.I. was transported via luxury bus to his new digs, and he was accompanied by his manager, Brian Sher, and a VH1 producer working on T.I.’s reality series. The Bureau of Prisons report claims “Such people were not authorized to travel with him in the conditions of his furlough,” and the only person who was allowed to travel with him was his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle. However, T.I.’s lawyer, Steven Sadow, says the “Bureau of Prison officials did not specifically state at any time that T.I. was limited to being in the vehicle with his wife and no one else. There is nothing that was specifically instructed or directed on this.” Sadow continued, saying “It doesn’t say ‘list all of the individuals that you are going to be with’ or ‘you may not be with anyone else.’” Sher, who was on the bus with the rapper, added “It was clear to me that Mr. Harris believed that I was permitted to be with him on the trip back to Atlanta because I had been authorized to visit him and have contact with during his time in Forrest City. During my time with him on the ride back to Atlanta, no business was conducted with Mr. Harris.”
It is this reason, and not the mode of transportation, as was previously reported, that landed T.I. back in prison. It is expected that, unless T.I. is granted a disciplinary hearing and cleared of any wrongdoing, he will remain in prison until September 29.
[Photo: Getty Images]
Rapper T.I. spent approximately one day as a free man before landing himself back in federal custody yesterday. T.I. was released from prison yesterday (the same day it was announced that he’ll be the subject of a new VH1 series chronicling his adjustment to life in the real world again), but owing to a flap with the luxury bus that was transporting him to the halfway house where he’ll be living for the month.
T.I.’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, told TMZ “We are awaiting the opportunity to quickly resolve whatever the issue may be that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has with T.I.’s method of transportation, bus, from Arkansas to Atlanta, so that T.I. can return to the halfway house to complete the remaining days of his sentence.” T.I. was sent back to an Atlanta prison for the time being.
There’s another small issue for the rapper as well. When he does get to the halfway house, he may have to put his reality series on hold or at least find a creative way to get around filming inside its walls, as a rep for the facility has said there’s “absolutely no way” they will allow filming inside it. Maybe someone can bake a Flip-cam into a cake and smuggle it in to the guy.
[Photo: Getty Images]
Rapper T.I. was just released from an Arkansas prison today and plans to serve out the final month of his 11-month sentence in a halfway house. With his release also comes the news that VH1 is planning a new reality series that will follow him as he gets back on his feet and into the real world that he’s been away from for almost a year. For more information on the show that’s scheduled to premiere on December 5, 2011, read on.
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