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First, he conquered the South. Now Clifford “T.I.” Harris has slain the fire-breathing dragon with an appetite for African American flesh — aka the legal system. By noon on May 26, Harris will report to a low-security federal prison in Forrest City, Arkansas, where he was set to serve his one year and and one day sentence for his conviction on weapons charges.
Well, it seems that with help of his noble knights, Steve Sadow and Ed Garland and the rest of his “Dream Team,” Harris’s stay with the other 1,500 members of Forrest City’s prison population will be a short one. Recently, a judge credited Harris for the 305 days he spent in home detention after being hit with the federal gun charges, and thanks to that little loophole in the system, Harris is likely to only spend two months behind bars.
You shouldn’t be surprised. Lest we forget, that Harris was set to face maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, with $250,000 fines for each charge in his indictment. We watched while Harris and his legal eagles got that time reduced to 366 days and 1,500 hours of community service. And for a guy on house arrest, he had no problem performing concerts nationwide, showing up in D.C. for President Obama’s inauguration and filming a reality-based television show for MTV, as long as there was an inspirational talk to kids here, and a community fundraiser there.
That being said, it’s more apparent than ever that good lawyers, oodles of money — and oh yeah, did I mention good lawyers – anyone can find a way to make the system work for them. We all wondered why Harris was taking his sweet time getting down to Arkansas, but with this recent development that question is answered.
Harris and his lawyers have known exactly what they were doing since the super star rapper first pleaded guilty to the gun charges in March 2009. While his fans, family and detractors alike anticipated the absence of a King, Harris and his suits never saw it that way — they were too busy mapping the fastest route back to the throne. – gavin philip godfrey
