For
a second, ignore the fact that this is a Hip-Hop website.... during
this period, close your eyes and imagine that you are a judge in the
court of law. Now imagine that you had a suspect who was caught
purchasing several illegal weapons. Incorporate the fact that he is not
allowed to purchase or own any fire arms because of past offenses. But
before you jump to any conclusions, also remember that he is a
convicted felon who has had serious run ins with the law on numerous
occasions. To most people, the decision would be simple. You would give
him a heavy sentence. If only life worked this way! Instead of you
giving this man the jail time that many would expect him to receive, he
cops a plea deal where he could do as little as two years. Does anyone
find this a little strange?
The
stated scenario above is rapper T.I.'s reality. After being arrested on
federal gun charges in October of 2007, Rapper T.I. has struck a plea
deal in which he will do 1,500 hours of community service by talking to
youth groups around the country, followed by about 12 months in prison.
But the amount of prison time he has to do, can be extended or reduced
depending on his fulfillment of the terms of the deal and good
behavior. While fans everywhere are celebrating for such a slap on the
wrist for the self proclaimed "King Of The South", many others are
beginning to wonder how a man with such an extensive criminal record
could have gotten off with what sums up to be a 'slap on the wrist' for
a federal charge. So, the brain trusts at defsounds.com got together
and created a theory on how he got such a light sentence. Let's first
look at T.I's previous criminal record.
Exhibit A-
Before, the gun charges, T.I. already had a laundry list of criminal
offenses, as well as parole violations. Here's a look at his record,
dating back to 1997.
Nov.
1997 arrested in Georgia for distribution of cocaine, manufacturing and
distributing a controlled substance, and giving authorities a false
name. He was later sentenced for this crime serving seven months in
jail and released on seven years of probation.
Sept. 2003 - arrested in Florida for striking an officer, trespassing and disorderly conduct
Dec. 2003 - warrant issued in Geogia for violating parole
Apr. 2004 - sentenced in Georgia to three years in jail; served less than a yearJan. 2005 - sentenced in Florida to 18 months' probation and 75 hours of community service
May 2005 - released from Georgia jail on $25,000 bond
2005 - arrested for threatening man outside Atlanta strip club; charge dismissed.
Side Bar -
Even law experts are perplexed
by the deal that T.I. was given. Atlanta defense lawyer, Page Pate,
said, " Cases like T.I.'s usually leave defendants with at least a 5
year sentence. There are a lot of people who are sitting serving time
in federal prison right now who would love to talk to schools and
churches and other community groups to serve some of their time, but
they can't do that because they don't have his celebrity."
Exhibit B-
The
common penalty for a weapons charge of this caliber would be a minimum
of 5 years, with a 250,000 dollar fine for every weapon purchased. With
a credible criminal record, that sentence would usually move up to 10+
years very easily with little argument.
Dont jump the Gun Yet-
Now
before I continue it is important to remind you that T.I's sentencing
is still not official, which means that after the 1500 hours of
community service, that one year sentence can still be boosted up to
5-10 years depending on how the judge feels, and although this may seem
like a strange punishment, it is not the first time that a raper has
received a sentence. Case in point, Fabolous had something similar to
this a couple of years ago, although his crime was not as serious.
So
now that we are all caught up with the general information lets take a
look at a couple of things that might make you scratch your head if you
take a closer look.
On October 4th, 2007, T.I. is arrested in Georgia for buying and possessing automatic weapons.
For
a while, there's really nothing going on but updates of T.I. and his
status on house arrest then all of a sudden on March 12th Details surrounding the murder of T.I.'s personal assistant and friend, Philant Johnson, emerge.
In an article written on Sohh.com, sources
from Atlanta radio station "V103", claim that authorities know who the
triggerman is and have also learned the motive behind the crime through
another unrelated arrest. Up until this point the shooting had
been shelfed as a cold case [ a case with no leads], but out of nowhere
the cops get a lead and the case has life again. Then just a couple of
day's later T.I. Gets his plea deal.
To those who have not been
following, this seems like nothing more than a mere coincidence, but
lets take a step back to look at the guns that T.I. bought. According
to most of the reports, he was trying to purchase three Machine guns
and two silencers, along with his attempt to purchase these weapons, he
also had three pistols in his car, one which was loaded. From someone
looking in from the outside, it would seem that T.I. must have really
had it in for someone to take such a risk and attempt to buy weapons of
that caliber. But then the question would be.... Who could bring out
this vicious intent out of T.I.? What would motivate a man that has
everything to even consider reacting that way when he had everything to
lose?
The answer is quite simple.The only person from what we know that might have had that ability would have to be the man that killed TIPS close friend and assistant, Philant Johnson.
What else would drive him to purchase weapons meant for destruction
other than revenge? When he gets caught, his plans would clearly have
been thrown to the wayside seeing that he now had gun charges to beat.
So the easiest thing to do would be to throw the one you were after
under the bus. With jail time imminent, and revenge still burning
inside of him, dropping the dime on his friend's murderer might have
been the the key to his deal.
TIP would get some time, but
nothing compared to what he might have received, and the cops get to
nab a killer. And just to make things a little nicer, they throw in the
community service so that TIP can clean up his image so if at the end
of the year he gets a slap on the wrist, it can be justified with no
suspicion.
After looking over everything and putting the pieces
together it becomes clear that the possibility of T.I.P. breaking the
ultimate street code very possible. Maybe he did snitch to get a kinder
sentence. Maybe just maybe this theory is correct and he gave in the
name of the man that killed his friend. The possibility that he gave up
the names of some gun traffickers is still very likely as well, but we
may never know. So as he begins his rehabilitation process, and starts
his conquest to knock out those community service hours and clean up
his act, fans will still ponder over how such a deal went through. But
regardless of what we may think or feel, he is his own man and must
stand by his own decisions. One year from now we may say goodbye to the
"King Of The South" for a long time, or the one year sentence might
stick, and we will all sit and wonder out loud, "Just how did he pull
that off??".
![[jack+herrer.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_umU7qAGsmGw/SKOjavpBPjI/AAAAAAAABo8/OEFlzkqk84k/s1600/jack%2Bherrer.jpg)
This here is what I think is great news.---- ®
“I remember when he went out with the injury last year,”
The real Suge Knight.. From beginning to the end.
Videos of all 2Pac, Dr Dre, Snoop Dog tightest videos.
| Publisher: | Sierra Entertainment |
| Developer: | TBA |
| Genre: | Action |
| Players: | TBA |
| Release Date Europe: | TBA |
| Release Date North America: | TBA |
| Xbox Live Play: | TBA |
| System Link: | TBA |
| Demo Available on Xbox Live: | No |
pJacksonville's David Garrard, who finished third in the league with a
quarterback rating of 102.2 was a fourth-round draft pick. Rams quarterback Marc Bulger was the second pick in the sixth round by the Saints back in 2000.
And take a look at this trio of quarterbacks who weren't even deemed to be
worthy of a regular pick in the sixth round. Their teams waited to use a
compensatory pick in the sixth round to add them to their teams. Tom Brady, who
finished first in completion percent, passing yards, quarterback rating and who
threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes in 2007 was the 33rd player selected in
the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck was picked up
with a compensatory pick by the Green Bay Packers at No. 34 in the sixth round
of the 1998 draft. The Browns' Derek Anderson was the 39th pick in the
sixth round of the 2005 draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
Dallas' Tony Romo, Tampa Bay's Jeff Garcia, Arizona's Kurt Warner and
Detroit's Jon Kitna never heard their names called from the podium during NFL
Draft weekend. They worked their way up through the ranks as undrafted free
agents.
So who are some of the Day 2 prospects who could be starters of the future?
Here are a few who have the potential.
Anthony Morelli, Penn State
6-4, 231 pounds
Career Numbers: 56.3 percent completion average, 5,230 passing yards,
31 TDs, 18 INTs. 216 yards rushing and 1 rushing TDs.
What you'll like about him: Morelli has a strong arm and a quick
release that will serve him well at the next level. He's confident in his
abilities as a quarterback and isn't afraid to stay in the pocket and take a big
hit right after releasing the ball if it buys him the extra moment he needed to
complete the pass. Durable and competitive, Morelli's a determined player with
good size for the position at the pro level.
What could hold him back: He tries to force balls into tight coverage
on occasion, more than likely due to his understandable confidence in his arm
strength. Since he's not very mobile, he needs to be protected by a very solid
offensive line or he can be forced into making bad decisions under pressure.
Colt Brennan, Hawaii
6-3, 207 pounds
Career Numbers: 70.4 percent completion average, 14,193 passing
yards, 131 TDs, 42 INTs. 1,065 yards rushing and 15 rushing TDs.
What you'll like about him: Brennan's mobility and accuracy makes a
compelling case for his potential success at the pro level. He makes good reads
while rolling out and has a good sense for when to just tuck the ball and run
instead. Brennan is another cool customer who can shake off a bad play or a
tough game with ease and focuses well on what lies ahead. That outlook, along
with his unbridled enthusiasm for playing the game, should serve him well at the
pro level. Particularly sharp out of the shotgun, Brennan has the arm strength
and the touch on the ball to increase his odds of getting the ball to his
intended target..
What could hold him back: Questions still abound regarding his
physical strength and ability to hold up under the pounding of speedier, heavier
defensive linemen who will be putting a bulls eye on his chest. Some also
question his throwing motion.
 Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith gets ready to throw to a receiver. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw) |
Paul Smith, Tulsa
6-1, 208 pounds
Career Numbers: 62.5 percent completion average, 10,924 passing
yards, 83 TDs, 35 INTs. 1,155 yards rushing and 28 rushing TDs.
What you'll like about him: He's smart and truly understands the game
of football. A real Xs-and-Os quarterback, Smith is a mature individual who is
truly driven and strides for excellence. When you watch his mechanics from the
time he takes the snap, you'll see a quarterback who operates with a pro-caliber
smoothness in the pocket. Smith can pick apart a defense with his short- and
medium-range passes and he's also able to hurt his opponent with his quick feet.
What could hold him back: His long-ball accuracy and size have been
raised as possible issues, but neither is likely to have a major impact on his
ability to lead an offense effectively. For those who may have forgotten, 49ers
legendary quarterback Joe Montana was only 6-foot-2 and weighed 205 pounds.
Kevin O'Connell, San Diego State
6-5, 225 pounds
Career Numbers: 57.7 percent completion average, 7,689 passing yards, 46
TDs, 34 INTs. 1,330 yards rushing and 19 rushing TDs.
What you'll like about him: He's cool, he's unflappable. Athletic and
fast for a quarterback of his size, O'Connell has shown a good propensity for
working through his progressions, making sure that he finds the open receiver
rather than forcing the ball to a favorite target repeatedly. And while he's
adjusting to the speed of the NFL game he can effectively use his feet to gain
yardage if he can't find an open receiver quickly enough.
What could hold him back: O'Connell hasn't yet developed the
consistency and accuracy that you'd expect for a future NFL passer. But with the
right coaching, he should be able to make strides in those areas.
Mark Nicolet, Hillsdale
6-1, 220 pounds
Career Numbers: 59.4 percent completion average, 6,778 passing
yards, 49 TDs, 24 INTs. 710 yards rushing and 9 rushing TDs.
What you'll like about him: He's got lots of raw potential and is
still progressing as a quarterback, as evidenced by the fact that 3,335 of his
passing yards and 31 of his passing touchdowns were amassed during his senior
season. Nicolet's maturity, leadership and field intelligence have caught the
eye of NFL scouts as he's got many of the intangibles a coach needs from the
leader of his offense. Nicolet has a strong presence as a pocket passer and
doesn't get rattled by pressure.
What could hold him back: His lack of top-level competition will make
his learning curve more difficult, especially in regards to the speed of the
defense. Nicolet will see defensive backs close on his passes more quickly than
he's ever experienced. And he'll need his poise in the pocket as faster, bigger
defensive linemen bear down on him.
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The Patriots completed a perfect if somewhat joyless journey
through the regular season Saturday night, finishing with a remarkable
16-0 record following a thrilling 38-35 comeback victory over the New
York Giants.
New England became the first NFL team since the 1972 Dolphins
to win every game on the schedule, and that one was only 14-0. This
victory required a comeback from a 12-point deficit engineered by the
brilliant Brady, and smashed the Patriots' league mark for consecutive
victories.
Validation of their inexorable march through the season can
only come by adding a Super Bowl championship, their fourth of the
decade. Do that and there'll be no challenge to their spot at the top.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick hugged players and assistant coaches on the sideline as the game ended.
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