TMZ has obtained photos of T.I. just minutes after he left prison on August 31 ... and the photos show he wasn't hiding anything from the prison staff -- including his mode of transportation or who got on his tour bus.
The photos show T.I. in a red shirt, accompanied by a prison guard as he makes his way to the tour bus that carried him and his entourage to a halfway house.
Sources tell us ... T.I.'s legal team believes prison officials targeted T.I. when they picked him up at the halfway house and hauled him back to prison, their reason was that T.I. was not authorized to take the tour bus. Yet the pictures clearly show prison staff knew exactly what mode of transportation he was using.
T.I.'s legal team believes prison officials have now trumped up other reasons to justify sending T.I. back to prison -- namely, that he brought unauthorized people on the bus, including his manager and 2 VH1 producers. Prison officials also claim T.I. was conducting business on the bus, because shortly after T.I. got off the bus VH1 announced it was doing a T.I. documentary/reality show.
And one more thing ... Prison officials say T.I. deceived them by not disclosing the manager and the producers would be on the bus. The officials claim T.I. had only said his wife would be accompanying him. But T.I.'s legal team claims T.I. had a 2-minute, casual conversation with a member of the prison staff 3 months before his release, and that's when he said his wife would be on board but never even considered who else might be there. The legal team believes prison officials are just out to get T.I. and are coming up with lame reasons to justify their actions.
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Reader Comments
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T.I., you're lying. Now serve the rest of your time and try to LEARN SOMETHING.
Right now, you are to ignorant to live outside the protective bars of prison.
x
yeah right....and the fool didnt get booty busted in prison....this azz ole is not to be believed!
What is the big deal? He got from point A to point B. Who cares who he spoke with along the way. He wasn't trying to escape. Wasn't doing drugs. Wasn't drinking. Who cares if it was a plush tour bus or a mule train?! Do these 'officials' not have anything more important to worry about?
not to worry Tip, when you come out, the officials will still be broke, miserable & racist while you'll still be rich & will probably sell 1 million records the first week when your album drops. I for one will buy a few copies just 'cause. let them hate!
They have rules for a reason, just follow them and maybe you will stay out of prison!!
Instead of apologizing and trying to work something out, he's basically blaming prison officials for what he did.
keep digging yourself deeper and expect to do the time now.
Prison officials and probation officers are 2 DIFFERENT departments!
While prison officials saw what he left in HIS probation officer didn't and that is why he was called on it.
TMZ, you're using the terms "prison staff" and "prison officials" interchangeably. They do not mean the same thing at all.
There is a difference between the regular prison guards and the supervisors that set the rules. It wouldn't surprise me if the guards didn't have all the specifics beyond the fact that T.I. was to be picked up and taken to an halfway house. Since T.I. and his lawyers did know, he should be punished.
Free T.I !
This isn't a good development for him as he is facing 2 or 3 years of supervised release with the feds when he gets out.
The thing that's really wrong with these pictures is that TI looks like he was really comfortable in prison. He looks more like he was leaving summer camp. Celebrity or not, when you have to use a handtruck to carry your personal belongings in boxes out of prison, it gives the sign that you like being there.
Enough already. While I do not agree with celebrities getting preferential treatment (and I am looking right at you, Lindsay), neither do I believe they should be harassed. It does appear that officials are adding new rules (or selectively enforcing old ones) in a bid to keep T.I. behind bars. Let's let him try to learn his lesson and get on with his life.
Analogy: If a kid was kicked out of school by the Principal for smoking in the boys room, but the cigarette was supplied by the janitor, could that be used as a defense? Of course not, a rule is a rule. It may SEEM unfair to the student, but that's no defense.
If it was such a big deal how he got there they should of drove him themselves.....
