The rapper was arrested on federal weapons charges over the weekend, just hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards. The arrest came at the end of a two-week sting operation.
Tip stood in hand cuffs with his legs chained as a federal magistrate ruled that the rapper (born Clifford Harris Jr.) must remain in custody for now. Federal prosecutors are asking that he stay behind bars until his trial, which could be several months away, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A hearing will be held on Friday (October 19) to decide whether there was probable cause for T.I.’s arrest and whether he will qualify for bond before trial.
Alan Baverman, the Magistrate Judge, made the decision that he was to stay in custody until Friday. The 27-year-old rap star was arrested in a federal sting operation after his bodyguard who turned on him delivered three machine guns and two silenced weapons to T.I.
He was convicted of felony drug charges as well back in 1988. T.I. actually has a movie coming out on November 2nd with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe titled “American Gangster.”
The bodyguard of T.I. has agreed to cooperate with authorities and has effectively turned on the rapper. T.I. could be facing some serious jail time for the charges as authorities also found six other guns, five of them loaded, in his bedroom closet.