This T.I. Is Quite A Dumb Fellow

SEPTEMBER 17--Along with allegedly possessing Ecstasy and testing positive for opiates, T.I. could have his federal probation revoked for associating with a convicted felon who actually helped facilitate the rapper’s illegal purchase of the rifles and handguns that landed him in federal prison, records show.

T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris) was accompanied by Cortez “C-Rod” Thomas when the performer’s vehicle was pulled over in a September 1 traffic stop in Los Angeles. A search of the Maybach turned up Ecstasy, which triggered the filing of drug charges against T.I. and his wife (and prompted federal officials yesterday to file a notice seeking a probation revocation hearing for the 29-year-old performer).

Thomas’s rap sheet includes marijuana, cruelty to children, and property damage convictions, according to the revocation notice, a copy of which you’ll find here. Harris’s “probation officer did not give the defendant permission to associate with Cortez Thomas,” according to the document.

Additionally, Georgia court and police records show that Thomas’s rap sheet was recently supplemented with fresh felony convictions. Arrested in February on gun and Ecstasy possession charges, Thomas pleaded guilty in late-May to four counts, but somehow avoided a prison sentence (instead, he was sentenced to a whopping 15 years probation). Click here to read the Atlanta Police Department report describing Thomas's most recent bust, which was triggered, of course, by the smell of pot wafting from his SUV.

During their weapons probe of Harris, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents learned that Harris gave Thomas $7000 for the purchase of firearms. Thomas then gave the cash to a Harris bodyguard--who had no criminal record--for the purchase of three rifles and four handguns. The bodyguard, Corey Williams, was subsequently arrested in an ATF sting and immediately agreed to cooperate against Harris. He eventually recorded telephone calls with the rapper and wore a recording device during a face-to-face meeting.

Thomas was not charged in connection with Harris’s felony case. Still, you’d think the mere fact that federal agents were aware that “C-Rod” served as a weapons go-between would be enough for Harris--only months out of custody--to steer clear of his fellow felon.

Thomas, a sometimes collaborator of T.I., has previously recorded for the rapper’s Grand Hustle label as part of P$C, or Pimp Squad Click. Which might explain the fur in the above photo. (2 pages)