Just as we said all along: rapper T.I. being sent back to prison had nothing to do with the luxury motor coach that transferred him from the Forrest City federal facility in Arkansas to an Atlanta halfway house last week.
According to CNN (via Eonline.com), which obtained documents from the Bureau of Prisons, T.I. (real name Clifford Harris Jr.) was sent back to the clink after prison officials learned that a VH1 producer and T.I.’s manager were on the bus.
“Such people were not authorized to travel with him in the conditions of his furlough,” the report states. “[T.I.] further indicated he was discussing a new reality series and a book with those individuals.”
But T.I.’s legal team is adamant that no business was conducted on the bus — even thought the VH1 producer was present for the ride.
“No such business was conducted during that trip as the incident reports,” said T.I.’s co-council Jonathan Leonard.
Also, just as we told you, T.I.’s lead attorney Steve Sadow is now blaming the halfway house officials who “ratted T.I. out” by notifying the feds about the reality TV cameras.
The government’s decision had nothing to do with the lavish coach in which the Grammy winner traveled, followed by a fleet of black SUVs containing his entourage.Rather, it was all about the “business” that officials believe the group talked about on the trip—per the terms of his release, such discussions were expressly forbidden.
As a result, federal officers took Harris back into custody soon after he arrived at the halfway house and he remains holed up at a nearby United States penitentiary until the official last day of his sentence on Sept. 29.
T.I.’s Atlanta attorney, Steve Sadow, attempted to throw the media off by claiming T.I. was returned to prison because the bus he rode on was not an authorized mode of transportation. But that explanation made no sense because a tour bus was T.I.’s mode of transportation the last time he left prison in 2009.
Everything would have been fine if VH1 had only waited another 30 days before releasing that statement to the press about a reality show.
The press release caught everyone off guard — including T.I.’s attorneys and local bloggers who were informed that “absolutely no photography” could be taken of T.I. while he was still in federal custody.
