Hip-hop star T.I., one of the biggest-selling artists in the US in 2008, is likely to spend the rest of 2009 in jail after he was found guilty of weapons charges.
"Today I would like to say thank you to some, and apologise to all," the rapper told the court in Atlanta, Georgia, after he was sentenced to a year and a day in jail after attempting to buy machine guns and silencers last year.
Having pleaded guilty, T.I., real name Clifford Harris, has between 30 to 60 days to report to prison. "Everything I learned was through trial and error," he told the judge. "I've learned lessons in my life to put in my music so people won't make the same mistakes as I."
The sentence is less servere than expected, with charges normally carrying a 10-year sentence and $250,000 fine. His guilty plea, however, allowed Harris to strike a deal, which means he has already completed about 1,000 hours of community service and has made 262 appearances warning youths about the pitfalls of guns, drugs and violence. He has also appeared in an MTV reality show, Road to Redemption, though that was not part of his sentence.
Harris's sixth album, Paper Trail, has sold nearly 2m copies in the US, scoring two No 1 hits, while a third single with Justin Timberlake is near the top of the charts.
T.I. said he had tried to buy the guns because he was scared. His best friend, Philant Johnson, was killed following a aftershow party in Cincinnati in 2006. A man was found guilty last year in the murder case.
