TI Begs, Pleads But is Sent Back to Prison For 11 Months For Violating Parole

An angry judge sentenced TI to 11 more months in prison for violating parole. Last September, the rapper committed three violations of his supervised release from prison: possessing ecstasy, testing positive for opiates and associating with a convicted felon when he was arrested in Los Angeles. (His wife, Tiny, was also thrown in jail.)

In court this afternoon, the rapper tried his darndest to appear contrite. He told the judge he was scared to go back to prison, admitted he had a drug addiction problem and pleaded for mercy. But the judge WAS NOT having it. The judge also didn't buy TI's stunt on Wednesday when he "saved" a man's life.

"I screwed up," said the rapper, wearing a three-piece gray suit. "I screwed up bigtime, and I'm sorry. I'm truly and sincerely sorry. I don't want and I don't need to use drugs anymore. I want them out of my life.....I need the court to give me mercy. Judge, don't send me back to prison....I want drugs out of my life. If I can get treatment and counseling I need ... I can beat this.”

But U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell Jr. was unmoved. Pannell noted that he had tried an extraordinary sentence with Harris, who was initially convicted of weapons charges, by permitting him to stay out of prison while performing 1,000 hours of community service. The service consisted largely of visits with schoolchildren to speak out against violence, gangs and drugs.

"I think Mr. Harris had had about the limit of second chances," Pannell said. "The worst thing is this case was an experiment."

Pannell said he had hoped the idea would work and could be adapted for use in other cases. But then he looked at Harris and said:

"You certainly dumped a lot of smut on the whole experiment."

It was unclear if TI would have to report immediately to prison or if he could turn himself in at later date.

Update: TI has until Nov. 1 to report to a designated federal correction facility, which will be determined at a later date. Until then, he will be considered under supervised release.




source