Rap artist T.I. was officially sentenced to 366 days in federal prison today. Under federal rules, that extra day means T.I. will receive time off his sentence for good behavior plus time served while he awaited arraignment following his arrest on gun charges in 2007.

From AJC.com:

    A federal judge approved a plea deal Friday that is expected to send Atlanta rapper T.I. to prison for a little less than 10 months for trying to buy machine guns and ammo from undercover agents in 2007.

    U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell sentenced T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., to one year and one day under the negotiated plea. But the deal qualifies T.I. for credits likely to cut the sentence to about 298 days.

    The 27-year-old rapper, clad in a dark suit, thanked the judge and prosecutors for giving him the chance to cut his prison time by speaking to youths about the pitfalls of crime, drugs and gangs. He has delivered that message to thousands in recent months.

    “It means just as much to me to make you guys proud for what you have done as it does for me to make myself and my family proud,” he said at the sentencing hearing in downtown Atlanta.

    “I’m a man of integrity. I’m a man of morals, of standards, of principle,” the entertainer said.

    Pannell said he would not have approved the deal — which includes far less prison time than federal guidelines call for on the weapons charges involved — if U.S. Attorney David Nahmias had not recommended it.

    “I think it’s been a good experiment,” the judge said. “I’ve come to resist the lockup mentality that we often find ourselves in… . maybe it will lead to similar experimental sentencings.”

    Panell also told T.I. directly: “I congratulate you on the year of work you have done so far.” READ MORE…