Rapper T.I. gets bail, remains under house arrest

Grammy Award-winning rapper T.I., who was arrested two weeks ago on federal weapons charges, has managed to win freedom for himself. The 27-year-old jailbird walked free on Friday after spending nearly fifteen days in custody.

Rapper T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, Jr., was released from the federal custody around 5 p.m Friday, after U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Baverman ordered him released on $3 million bond that includes $2 million in cash and $1 million in property.

Dressed in a pale gray suit, Harris smiled and gave victory signs to the cheering fans as he left the courthouse. “I want to thank all the fans for their support. Due to the severity of the situation, I can’t say much more,” he said.

But, the release of T.I. seems partial as the judge ordered the rapper confined to his home in Georgia's Henry County. Under the house arrest terms, Harris can only leave his mansion for medial reasons or to attend his trial and court proceedings.

Harris will pay for 24-hour monitoring service while under house incarceration. He has also been forbidden from owning firearms and is instructed not to have contact with any witnesses or informants in his case.

The rapper will only be allowed three visitors at a time during daylight hours. His girlfriend and his children will be allowed to reside at the residence, which before his release was searched for weapons or illegal goods by the U.S. bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Harris was arrested Saturday, 13 Oct 07, in Atlanta for possession of machine guns and silencers, just hours before he was due to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards show, which took place in downtown Atlanta.

The rapper was supposed to be a big draw at the awards, and was a leading contender for the awards with nine nominations. He won two awards at the event.

T.I. was taken into custody after he allegedly sent his bodyguard to buy three machine guns and two silencers from the cop, posing as an arms dealer. Soon after his arrest, the agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives conducted the search of the premises on Saturday afternoon spending most of the afternoon at his College Park residence in the process.

The search continued for quite a while, and by 7:30 p.m. the agents had collected substantial amounts of evidence in boxes and bags. Agents involved in the search said their efforts had yielded six firearms in the closet in T.I.’s bedroom.

He was charged with two felonies; possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. The rapper last Friday pleaded not guilty to the trio of federal illegal weapons charges, each of which carries a potential sentence of 10 years behind bars.

Born on September 25, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Harris Jr. is best known by the stage name T.I. A man of many talents, he made his acting debut in March, 2006, in ATL, an American movie that was directed by Chris Robinson with a screenplay by Tina Gordon Chism from a story by Antwone Fisher.

He is also due to hit the big league in Hollywood, having bagged a role in American Gangster, a movie that has such heavyweights as Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington.

In Addition, T.I. is also a spokesman for American automobile major Chevrolet. He has rapped there and also raced with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the All-American star of NASCAR.