Pitchfork

Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) arrested Clifford Harris, aka T.I., on Saturday, October 13, in the rapper's hometown of Atlanta, according to a Reuters report. He was charged with the purchase of illegal weapons.

The arrest was the result of an undercover operation by ATF agents that began October 2 after they discovered that Harris' bodyguard was trying to buy machine guns without registering them, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

The bodyguard paid $2,200 for three machine guns, two silencers, and a pistol, and he was subsequently arrested on Wednesday, October 10. Upon arrest, he said he was buying the guns for T.I. The ATF agents allowed him to set up the delivery to Harris for Saturday in a shopping center parking lot, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta and cited by an AP report.

The agents arrested Harris in the same parking lot, where they found three other firearms in his car, one loaded, said the complaint. Six other firearms were found in a bedroom closet during a search of the rapper's Atlanta-area home.

These charges are especially serious for Harris since he is a convicted felon, and according to the Department of Justice, it is a federal offense for a convicted felon to have someone purchase firearms on his or her behalf. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia David E. Nahmias issued a statement saying, "[Harris] now faces serious federal charges and a potentially long prison sentence."

The arrest occurred hours before T.I. was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, where he led all artists with nine nominations. The one award he received-- CD of the Year for T.I. vs. T.I.P.-- he shared with Common for Finding Forever.