Rapper Could Face Prison For Violating His Probation
6:00PM ET September 2nd, 2010
Contributor : Hip Hop Blog Staff
A Rocky Williform Company

How quickly things have changed for the King of the South.

The fallout from rapper T.I.'s arrest in Los Angeles could be swift and severe. The Grammy-winner is to return to Atlanta and may be ordered to face the same federal judge who signed off on an extraordinary deal that shaved years off his potential prison term after T.I. was found guilty of felony weapons possession charges in 2008.

T.I. and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Harris, were arrested Wednesday night in Los Angeles for suspicion of possession of methamphetamine. The arrest could set in a motion a series of events that could be disastrous for the rapper-turned-actor who's new action film, Takers was #1 at the box office this past weekend. It could lead to a motion by his probation officer, with the officer asking U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. to revoke some of the remaining probation on T.I.'s federal sentence stemming from the gun charges three years ago. T.I's probation expires in 2013.

"T.I. is going to be back on his way to Atlanta in the next 24 hours," Don Samuel, one of T.I.'s lawyers, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday. "It's almost certain he'll end up appearing before the court here. But without knowing all the facts, it's premature to speculate what the court is likely to do."

T.I.'s plea deal was the first of its kind. Before going to prison, the rapper was required to perform 1,000 hours of community service telling kids and fans across the country not to emulate his old lifestyle of drugs and violence. The deal was endorsed by former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young. Pannell seemed please with how things had gone, but he warned the rapper, born Clifford Harris, Jr., that if he had failed during his time out on community service, "I would have simply sent you to prison."

It remains to be seen if Pannell will do just that following the events of Wednesday night.