Slap on the wrist? T.I. won’t face drug charges

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles prosecutors have declined to file a felony drug charge against T.I. stemming from his arrest last month on the Sunset Strip...

TheGrio Staff

Oct 25, 2010

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles prosecutors have declined to file a felony drug charge against T.I. stemming from his arrest last month on the Sunset Strip.

According to a charge evaluation worksheet released Monday, deputies found four ecstasy pills on the 30-year-old rapper from Atlanta.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., was on supervised release after serving 10 months in prison for federal weapons charges when he was arrested Sept. 1. A Georgia judge earlier this month sentenced him to another 11 months in prison for breaking his federal parole with the latest arrest.

As a condition of his release earlier this year, Harris was ordered not to commit another federal, state or local crime while on supervised release, or to illegally possess a controlled substance. He was also told to take at least three drug tests after his release and to participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program.

The deputy district attorney in LA who rejected the case cited the sentence and the small amount of drugs found as reasons drug charges aren’t being pursued.

“The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office’s decision to reject TI’s case was the right thing to do under the circumstances,” Harris’ attorney, Steve Sadow, wrote in an e-mail. He commended the office for “exercising its discretion to reject prosecution in light of the legal and factual issues involved.”

The Grammy Award-winning rapper is expected to begin his prison term on Nov. 1.