ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Rap star T.I . was sentenced in Atlanta federal court Friday to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $ 100,300 fine on weapons charges related to purchasing machine guns and silencers . T.I. , whose real name is Clifford Harris , has mentored at-risk students as part of his community service . The rapper , whose real name is Clifford Harris , reached the terms of the sentence in a plea agreement with prosecutors last year . `` I would like to say thank you to some , and apologize to others , '' Harris said at his sentencing . `` In my life , I have been placed in the worst-case scenario and had to make the best of it , '' he said . `` Most often , things I have learned have been from trial and error . I knew no way to protect myself than to arm myself . '' He was dressed in a gray suit and black shirt and tie . Harris , 28 , also was sentenced to some property forfeiture , supervised release for three years after his prison sentence , 365 days of home confinement and 1,500 hours of community service . He has already served 305 days of home confinement and 1,030 hours of service . He also must undergo DNA testing and drug counseling , can not own firearms and must submit to reasonable searches and a financial audit . Watch the rapper 's interview with CNN 's T.J. Holmes » . `` We are very pleased with the result in this case , '' U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said . `` Mr. Harris has received a significant penalty for the serious firearms offenses he committed . ... `` His prison sentence was reduced from what it might have been , but the public got something very significant in exchange : the extensive and unique community service program that Mr. Harris committed to doing when he pleaded guilty . `` By all accounts , his community service has been a remarkable success -- it certainly exceeded our expectations -- and there is still more to come when he gets out of prison . '' Watch T.I . urge others to learn from his mistakes » . Former Atlanta Mayor and U.N . Ambassador Andrew Young spoke on behalf of Harris , comparing black-on-black violence to the Ku Klux Klan decades ago . Young said he regarded working with Harris not so much as a chance to help him but more as `` an opportunity for him to help me . '' `` We hit it off immediately , '' Young said . `` It was a grandfather type of relationship . '' Bishop Eddie Long of the New Birth Baptist Church also spoke in support of Harris . Harris will be taken into custody no earlier than May 19 . The plea agreement , which federal authorities called unique , allowed the rapper to remain out of prison for a year while he performed community service . In that time , he mentored at-risk students at 58 schools , 12 Boys & Girls Clubs , nine churches and many other nonprofit organizations , according to court documents . Young said he and Harris went to a hospital for paraplegics in New York . `` He heard the testimonies of guys in their 50s and 60s who talked about being shot back when they were 16 , '' Young said . `` A perfect example for me in my ministry , and that would n't be possible without the willingness of this court to try new things . '' Meanwhile , the rapper has released his sixth CD , `` Paper Trail , '' which has sold close to 2 million copies , according to Nielsen SoundScan . The multiplatinum rapper also has starred in the MTV reality show , `` T.I . 's Road to Redemption : 45 Days to Go , '' which chronicles his efforts to shave years off his sentence by completing his community service . The show features him talking to schools and community groups `` about how to avoid the trouble he now finds himself in , '' according to the network 's Web site . Harris ' fall from grace was sudden and dramatic , played out on the streets of his hometown of Atlanta in 2007 . That year , Harris had starred in the film `` ATL '' and could be seen in Chevy commercials with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Harris had been named to the Forbes list of top-earning rappers , banking an estimated $ 16 million in 2006 . Then he was arrested in October 2007 in an Atlanta parking lot hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards . Harris was caught in a federal sting after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to him , prosecutors said . The rapper had provided the bodyguard with $ 12,000 to buy the weapons . Harris was not permitted to own any guns , however , because he was convicted in 1998 on felony drug charges -- possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute -- in Cobb County , in suburban Atlanta . For his court hearing Friday , Harris ' attorneys submitted more than 100 letters from officials who thanked him for his community service since the weapons arrest . One of the letters was from Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears , who said Harris did an `` outstanding job '' talking to a group of teenagers about not breaking the law . `` If only one young person in that courtroom listened to Mr. Harris -- and I believe they all did -- we are all better for it , '' Sears wrote . `` He was honest , humble and inspirational . '' CNN 's Aaron Cooper and Lateef Munger contributed to this report .
has T.I. , whose real name is Chris Harris , sentenced on weapons charges . He also must forfeit property , have early release , do more community service . T.I . was arrested in federal sting operation before appearance at BET awards show . He has helped at - risk students as part of community service .