Rapper T.I. has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay a $100,300 US fine on weapons charges related to purchasing machine-guns and silencers.

An Atlanta judge handed down the sentence Friday. It was reached in a plea bargain after the rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, pleaded guilty last March to attempting to buy unregistered weapons.

He was arrested in October 2007 in an Atlanta parking lot in a federal sting, just hours before he was to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

Harris has 30 to 60 days to report to prison.

Under the plea deal, Harris was able to postpone his prison sentence for a year

while he participated in a program to warn youths about the pitfalls of guns and violence.

He has completed about 1,000 hours of community service and must do another 500 hours as part of the sentence.

"It's been rewarding in the sense that it takes my mind off my own personal circumstances when I focus the attention on helping others," the rapper said of his community service.

"And that way, I've definitely been able to appreciate the ability to turn my negative part of my life into a positive."

In the past year, he also released his sixth CD, Paper Trail and made a reality TV show, T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go, which chronicled his journey.

Harris will face three years of supervision, during which time he must undergo DNA testing and drug counselling and cannot own firearms.