Rapper T.I. arrested on weapons charges

ATLANTA, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Federal agents in Atlanta Saturday arrested Clifford Harris, known professionally as rapper T.I., for accepting three machine guns and two silencers.

Harris, 27, has a prior felony conviction for drug charges stemming from a 1998 incident in Cobb County, Ga. It is illegal for convicted felons to possess firearms of any kind.

A witness, a bodyguard for Harris, provided information leading to the arrest after purchasing three machine guns and two silencers in a sting operation Wednesday, CNN reports. Harris arranged to meet the bodyguard at an Atlanta parking lot to pick up the weapons and was arrested peacefully.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents found three other guns in the vehicle Harris was driving, including a loaded weapon under the driver’s seat.

A search warrant for Harris’s home in College Park, Ga., yielded six more weapons, five of which were loaded.

“This convicted felon allegedly was trying to add several machine guns to an already large and entirely illegal arsenal of guns,” David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement.

Harris, who was scheduled to perform at The Black Entertainment Television Hip-Hop Awards ceremony Saturday, was ordered to appear in court Monday.