T.I.’s back in the slammer
U.S. rap star T.I. just can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble. After spending nearly a year in jail in 2009 on federal weapons charges, the rapper was released only eight months ago, for a spell of three years probation. However, instead of laying low, T.I. managed to get himself and his wife arrested in September for possession of numerous controlled substances – and on 15th October, a Los Angeles judge threw him back in jail for eleven months.
Only two days before the hearing, the rapper had assisted the Atlanta police force in talking a suicidal man down from a twenty-two floor building. In fact, the police were so thankful for T.I.’s assistance that one officer spoke in his favour at the hearing, only for the judge to ignore his testimony and take a hard line with the star.
Although he’s never done time for drugs offences before, this isn’t the first time that T.I. has run into trouble for possession of narcotics. The rapper is reported to have been a drug dealer in his teens, and was arrested in 1998 for breaking Georgia’s controlled substance laws. After being released on probation, the star violated his parole on a number of occasions, being pulled up for such offences as possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana. Following an arrest in 2006 for an outstanding probation violation, T.I. stayed on the straight and narrow for a few years, until he was sentenced to a year in prison for gun crimes in March 2009.
A year later, the rapper was released, and as part of his parole was subject to a number of strict terms, including DNA testing, drug counselling and random property searches. Despite warnings that he would return to jail should any further offences take place, T.I. managed to stay under the radar for only five months. On 1st September 2010, while out in their Maybach, the rapper and wife Tamika Cottle were pulled over by Los Angeles police. Smelling marijuana, the police searched the vehicles, and discovered a number of narcotics including marijuana, ecstasy and opiates.
Although he now faces another long stint in prison, it seems that T.I. may finally have learned his lesson. Speaking to CNN the day before the hearing, the rapper told his fans that he was going to stay on the straight and narrow in future. “I’m tired, I’m wore out,” he said, “I don’t have the age, the energy, or just the attitude to move forward and continuing in this cycle in this ongoing process of destruction and disparity in my life.” However, fans will have to wait until September 2011 to see if he can stick to that promise.
