T.I. Remains Jailed on Weapons Charges

Source from:  news.yahoo.com ATLANTA 10/16/2007

T.I. was ordered Monday to remain in custody on federal weapons charges until a bail hearing later this week. The chart-topping rapper was arrested Saturday, hours before his scheduled performance at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Federal authorities say he tried to buy three machine guns and two silencers from a man cooperating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. T.I., born Clifford Harris, appeared briefly in federal court Monday. Wearing a black shirt and black jeans, he entered the courtroom expressionless and scanned the crowd filled with family, supporters and media. The government wants to keep the 27-year-old rapper in custody as the case proceeds, but his attorneys planned to argue for his release on bond at a hearing scheduled for Friday. A federal firearms dealer contacted the ATF this month about a man seeking to buy a machine gun without registering the weapon, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. After attempting to purchase several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed individual - who said he had been a bodyguard for T.I. since July 2007 - was arrested. He began cooperating with the government and said that he was buying the machine guns and silencers for Harris, a convicted felon, the complaint said. T.I. ended up winning two awards at Saturday's show. Enditem