T.I.

Rapper T.I. is - for the second time in three weeks - out of prison and on his way to a halfway house to complete the remainder of his sentence.

Hopefully they don't yank him back this time.

T.I. was released August 31, having served nearly all of an 11-month sentence for violating probation, only to be returned to prison after allegedly failing to disclose - and conducting business on - a pimp ass tour bus that he rolled out in.

When T.I. walked out of the Arkansas federak prison on August 31, he tweeted, "The storm is over & da sun back out." Well, it wasn't out for long.

Prison officials sent U.S. Marshals to the halfway house after that concluding T.I. had unauthorized people on the bus that transported him there.

Authorities also allege that T.I. was doing business on the bus (regarding his reality show), something he denies, but would compromise his release.

Yeah, it was a bizarre situation, but it's apparently been resolved. T.I. will be in the halfway house until September 29, then freed altogether.

Continue Reading...

Looks like T.I. is stuck in prison, at least for now.

Prison officials in Atlanta put the kibosh on the legal challenge to the decision to yank the rap star back to prison immediately following his Aug. 31 release.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons told T.I.'s lawyer he was "not entitled to legal counsel" in the process by which officials review the decision to lock him up.

Authorities remanded him into federal custody for failing to disclose that his trip to a halfway house would be on a pimp ass tour bus with cameras in tow.

T.I., wife Tameka Cottle and even the halfway house officials insist he did nothing wrong, but the prison officials have refused to budge on this matter.

T.I.'s attorney originally sent the Bureau a letter last week, asking to be present at the hearings that would decide his client's fate. He was turned down.

Two hearings have already occurred without T.I.'s lawyer present, one last week and one the week before. It's unclear what transpired at either meeting.

For now, however, he remains locked up, though his sentence is set to expire in October, so before long, he should be free to roll out - tour bus and all.

Tiny is royally ticked off at federal prison officials.

T.I.'s wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle says the feds are just trying to target and make an example out of her husband by dragging him back to prison.

Tiny is speaking out, because "It's important that the world know how unfair he's being treated on such minor charges ... all because he's T.I."

According to T.I.'s wife, "There are way more dangerous and carefree [celebrities] that just get slapped on the wrist and sent on their way."

"Our family needs [him] ... and because of a personal vendetta, we have to watch our kids' sad faces everyday when he still doesn't show up."

Yes and no. T.I. is at fault for brazenly violating his probation last year and ending up back behind bars in the first place. Tiny was arrested, too.

On the flip side, being yanked back because of his reality show and taking a tour bus to the halfway house? Now that there is some bull$h!t.

He's done his time. Now free T.I.!

[Photo: Fame Pictures]

Woe is T.I.

Justifiably or not, the reality show the rapper was filming totally got him hauled back to prison. Officials believed he had people from the show on the bus that took him to his halfway house - a big no-no, according to official documents.

If you're not familiar with the story, here's what went down:

T.I. was released from prison August 31, under specific instructions to be transported to a halfway house to serve the remaining 30 days of his sentence.

The rapper was/is serving 11 months for violating probation in his federal weapons case, after he was pulled over and police found drugs on him last fall.

It was stipulated that he could ONLY travel with his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, and was not allowed to conduct business en route to the halfway house.

But prison officials say T.I. also had his manager, along with two VH1 producers on board, chatting about his reality show as well as a book. Not kosher.

Continue Reading...

T.I. was a free man for a full 24 hours this week, until the rapper was sent back to jail for getting a ride to his halfway house in a pimped out tour bus. Such a method of transportation is against the law, apparently.

How does wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle feel about this development? She says it's complete crap and here's why:

Prison officials saw the vehicle ahead of time and didn't say a word! Heck, they "walked him over, took pics and told him good luck in life," Tiny tells TMZ.

"This is a bunch of bullsh-t," Cottle added. "They should have said something before he got on the bus... T.I. would have politely gotten into a van... T.I. is one of the strongest individuals I know... and they just trying to break him in more ways than one and it's not gonna work! 'Cause what God got for him, can't no man take that away... period!"

More like an ellipse, really. We likely haven't heard the end of this story.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Only a day after T.I.'s release from prison, the rapper is already back in federal custody, and according to reports, it's all over a luxury tour bus incident.

Say what now?

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and T.I.'s lawyer Steve Sadow confirm he's back in custody after traveling from a federal Arkansas prison to an Atlanta halfway house on a PIMP ASS TOUR BUS, a method of transportation that did not sit well with officials.

T.I. was sentenced in October to 11 months in prison for violating probation, but was let out early to finish the rest of his sentence (and film a reality show, which officials are reportedly having none of now) in a halfway house.

However, he allegedly misled prison officials into thinking he'd be taking a low-key mode of transportation from the prison to the halfway house.

Guess a tricked out tour bus doesn't qualify a low-key.

Continue Reading...

Man, T.I. just can't catch a break.

The rapper, who was recently released from prison after serving 11 months for drug possession, is planning to film a reality show about his post-jail life. Of course he is, right?

But a rep for Dismas Charities, the halfway house where T.I. will be residing for the foreseeable future, tells TMZ there's no way VH1 cameras will be allowed inside the facility.

"It is just not going to happen," says the insider.

Prior to this stint in the clink, T.I. served approximately one year for a federal gun conviction in 2009. He was arrested along with his wife last year and sent back for violating his probation.

It's unclear how the artist's reality show will go forward now, as filming began the instant he stepped foot outside an Arkansas prison on Wednesday, but the series will not be permitted to capture such halfway house activities as basketball, tennis and faith-based healing courses.

[Photo: WENN.com]

T.I. was released from an Arkansas prison this morning, according to reports. The rapper is now bound for a halfway house of some kind or home confinement.

Back in September 2010, he was sentenced to 11 months in prison after a drug possession arrest on the Sunset Strip. There may have been sizzurp involved.

In any case, it was a clear violation of his probation.

T.I. served only about a year for a federal gun conviction in 2009, but after he and wife Tiny were busted in 2010, his probation was yanked and back he went.

Chris Burke, spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, says T.I. was released at 7:29 a.m. local time and "in transit" to begin the next leg of his sentence.

T.I. checked November 1 and was originally scheduled to be released September 29, so he appears to have had about a month shaved off this leg.

Here's hoping he focuses solely on good deeds now, and Tiny can take care of her man's needs without having to worry about a guard seeing.

[Photo: Fame Pictures]

Oft-incarcerated rapper T.I. got in serious trouble with prison officials after guards caught the famous inmate taking things too far during a visit from the wife.

TMZ reports and T.I.'s wife Tiny (a.k.a. Tameka Cottle) confirms that they were in a room alone together at the Arkansas State Prison when she made like MJ.

We're saying she started to beat it. It being him.

BEST VISIT EVER: Unfortunately for T.I., it was soon cut short by pesky prison guards. No word if she also baked him a cake with a file inside.

According to state prison guidelines, inmates are allowed to kiss and embrace at the beginning and at the end of a visit as well as hold hands in there.

However, "the inmate’s hands must remain in plain view of staff at all times." Same goes for the visitors. In his pants doesn't cut it apparently.

Tiny confirms that as a result of this stroke of bad luck, T.I. was sent to a  "Special Housing Unit" consisting of more security and less freedom.

No wonder T.I.'s so sick of jail. Peeps are so uptight there. Tiny hopes to visit him again soon, even if she has to keep her right hand to herself.

T.I. may be a convicted felon who blew a second chance with a probation-violating arrest that nixed his early release, but the man is nothing if not inspirational.

He's effing tired of jail, but it sounds like he's hanging in there. The release of his new album, No Mercy, which he finished before his 11-month sentence, helps.

"So here it is. NO MERCY, the most honest and intimate installment of my life story as promised," T.I. posted on his official site, which he somehow can update.

Says the embattled rapper: "Hope ya'll enjoy it and it lives up to the very high standards I've set for myself or anyone who's considered to be one of the best."

Humble as always. The self-adulation continues:

"I must admit it takes a lot to go through as much as I have and still keep the love in your heart and in your art. But at the end of the day, if that's what it takes to produce the music to keep the world of hip-hop evolving on its axis."

Continue Reading...