Rapper arrested for buying machine guns from undercover fed through a middle man

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BerettaCougar

New member
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071014/ap_on_en_mu/people_t_i;_ylt=AgsByPNh57.vofjWy2ntIq.s0NUE



ATLANTA - Grammy-winning rapper T.I. was arrested Saturday — just hours before he was to take the stage at the BET Hip-Hop Awards — after federal officials said he had paid his bodyguard to buy machine guns and silencers for him.

The arrest resulted from an investigation that began this month when a federal firearms licensee contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about a man inquiring about buying a machine gun without registering the weapon as required by law, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

After trying to buy several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed person began cooperating with the government and said he was buying the machine guns and silencers for Clifford Harris, T.I.'s given name, the complaint said. According to the bodyguard, he had bought about nine firearms for T.I., and the rapper had given him cash to buy guns four different times, it said.

Harris brokered the deals through the bodyguard because he is a convicted felon, the complaint alleged. It is against federal law for a convicted felon to have another person get firearms on their behalf.

The 27-year-old rapper had arranged to pick up the weapons just hours before he was to take the stage at the Hip-Hop Awards, being taped blocks away, according to the complaint.

Sydney Margetson, a spokesman for T.I.'s label, Atlantic Records, declined to comment Saturday.

As the Hip-Hop Awards were being taped in Atlanta on Saturday night, federal authorities were searching T.I.'s home in East Point, about 15 miles southwest of the city.

Half a dozen agents were still searching well into the night, removing boxes and envelopes from the large, red brick house with white columns and ornate glass windows, removing boxes and envelopes.

T.I. had been expected to perform at the BET show, which is to be broadcast Wednesday, and was nominated in nine categories. Instead, the rapper was noticeably absent from red carpet festivities before the show began at 6 p.m., though he was at the center where the show was to be taped.

Saturday was supposed to be a day of revelry for T.I., the co-chief executive of Grand Hustle Records. The self-proclaimed "King of the South" won three awards at last year's inaugural BET Hip-Hop Awards and received nine nominations this year, including CD of the Year, Lyricist of the Year and MVP of the Year.

The rapper's sixth album, "T.I. vs. T.I.P.," was released July 3 and debuted at No. 1.

In May 2006, T.I.'s best friend, Philant Johnson, was killed and three others were injured in a gun shootout after a post-performance party in Cincinnati. The killer remains at large, and T.I. was briefly locked up a few days after the funeral on suspicion of failing to perform community service stemming from a 2003 arrest.

T.I. grew up in Atlanta and was selling crack by the time he was a teenager. After years of hustling to launch his rap career, recording demos and flying back and forth to New York shopping for a record deal, his first taste of success came with his 2003 album, "Trap Muzik."

But the next year, warrants were issued for his arrest on probation violations for a drug conviction, and he was sentenced to three years behind bars. It wasn't clear Saturday how much of the sentence he actually served.

T.I. hit the big screen in his debut movie, "ATL," in March 2006. He has a role opposite Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in "American Gangster," set for release Nov. 2.

T.I. also appeared in a commercial for Chevrolet in which he rapped and raced alongside NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. He has also won two Grammy Awards.

___

Associated Press writer Jason Bronis in East Point contributed to this report.
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A

AZEX

New member
(I want to post about 100 different things right now, all poignant and funny or both, but I don't want to get scolded and sent to the principle's office)

D.
 
P

publius42

New member
The arrest resulted from an investigation that began this month when a federal firearms licensee contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about a man inquiring about buying a machine gun without registering the weapon as required by law, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.

After trying to buy several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed person began cooperating with the government and said he was buying the machine guns and silencers for Clifford Harris, T.I.'s given name...

Harris brokered the deals through the bodyguard because he is a convicted felon, the complaint alleged. It is against federal law for a convicted felon to have another person get firearms on their behalf.
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That FFL holder and the bodyguard might want to watch their backs.

This does illustrate the difficulty of enforcing gun control. You've got a rich rapper felon who wants guns, and he has friends and hangers-on who will buy him guns. If he has a friend who has a clean enough record, that friend can buy a machine gun without asking any FFL's to commit any felonies, and no one would know who was really in possession of the gun once the friend bought it. Or, they could just find an FFL holder who does not mind looking the other way for enough money, or someone else who can get a machine gun and keep his mouth shut. A guy with hit records, movie deals, and car company endorsements can afford some pretty decent hush money.

We might be able to keep this guy away from guns by locking him up in prison, but maybe not even then...
 
M

Musketeer

New member
Note, an FFL holder told ATF of this! I thought according to Bloomberg gun dealers down south all made a living selling guns to criminals for use in NY, Chicago and DC...
 
F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
It is against federal law for a convicted felon to have another person get firearms on their behalf.
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Well, yes. But it's actually against the law for ANY person to have another person get firearms on their behalf, IINM.

Oh yeah, I'm all broken up about this guy I've never heard of getting busted.
 
T

TheOtherOne

New member
Just another victim of the war on drugs

His "felony" status stems from a drug possession charge that he spent a year in prison for.

If only the government would outlaw alcohol again... then they would be able to more easily remove our gun rights by turning many more of us into felons.

:rolleyes:
 
J

joab

New member
Isn't there some recent case law out there making this type of incident "unconstitutionally vague"?
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There was a cop who, using his credentials as a police armorer and firearms trainer , bought an auto for his own use and there was some sort of involvement by some of his friends

The judge ruled that the police exemption standard was vague
 
F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
If you want to get a lot of cheap toys, seems to me the best way would be to do this:

1. Find and buy a house in a suburban or rural area which meets the legal requirements under local law as being ripe for "de-annexation" from whatever municipality it's in.

2. Get a laywer and launch a campaign to de-annex your little community from the municipality. It helps if some of the neighbors are your friends & relatives. Have legal battle if necessary. This may cost money to get enough people on board to win the de-annexation. You may have to send a couple of city council members of the municipality on carribean vacations, too.

3. Create your own tiny little municipality, complete with a campaign to get yourself elected mayor and police chief.

4. Voila, as police chief, you can buy cheap toys.
 
T

Tom2

New member
Thats not news! Like it is some kind of feather in your cap or something, apparently. Proves you are serious about your music.
 
D

divemedic

New member
Well, yes. But it's actually against the law for ANY person to have another person get firearms on their behalf, IINM.
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Only if that person is prohibited from owning a firearm. It is perfectly legal to buy a gun and give it as a gift, as long as the recipient is not prohibited from owning the weapon.
 
J

joab

New member
Only if that person is prohibited from owning a firearm
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A straw purchase is not about a prohibited person it is simply about where the money comes from

Buying guns for other people is a straw purchase unless you use your own money and present it as a gift with no expectation of compensation, somehow I doubt that is the case here
 
D

divemedic

New member
Actually, the law says:

It shall be unlawful --

(6) for any person in connection with the acquisition or
attempted acquisition of any firearm . . . from a . . .
licensed dealer . . . knowingly to make any false or
fictitious oral or written statement . . . intended or
likely to deceive such . . . dealer . . . with respect to
any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale or other
disposition of such firearm . . . .
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18 U.S.C. section 922(a)(6) (emphasis added).

A straw purchase is defined right on the 4473 as:

WARNING--The sale or delivery of a firearm by a licensee to
an eligible purchaser who is acting as an agent,
intermediary or "straw purchaser" for someone whom the
licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is
ineligible to purchase a firearm directly, may result in a
violation of the Federal firearms laws.
 
R

RichdaFactor

Moderator
Anybody know what type of guns they where that he was caught with in his car,that he was buying from the feds, are the ones they found at his house?
 
H

hammer4nc

Moderator
It would seem several people are criminally chargable here, yet only one (the big fish) was actually charged...possible financial motivation for a big (asset forfeiture) score?

Could someone post the statute that allows the ATF to "break the law to enforce the law"? I've asked this question in the past, and no one could ever provide an answer. I guess its assumed that officials can routinely break the law while undercover? Perhaps its spelled out in an immunity clause somewhere? What are the legal boundaries to this activity? Can the USAA arbitrarily decide to not charge whoever he/she wants? It would be informative to see it in black and white. Thanks in advance.

In this case, ATF agents sold unpapered NFA items to the bodyguard (who went snitch in exchange for not being charged); said arms were delivered to TI in a parking lot.

Other than that, its quite obvious that recently, NFA violations are subject to a double standard, if you're a "chosen one" (public official).
 
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