T.I. ORDERED TO REMAIN IN JAIL

T.I. is still behind bars today after a judge on Monday ordered him to remain in custody on federal weapons charges pending a bail hearing scheduled for Friday.

Hours before his scheduled appearance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards Saturday, the rapper was swooped up by ATF agents and accused of trying to buy three machine guns and two silencers from a man who was cooperating with the feds.

Sporting a black shirt and black jeans, T.I. appeared before a judge Monday with family, supporters and media on hand in the courtroom. Prosecutors charged him with possession of unregistered machine guns and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

The government is hoping to keep the 27-year-old artist locked up as the case proceeds, but his attorneys planned to argue for his release on bond at Friday's scheduled hearing.

The road to T.I.'s arrest began just 11 days ago. According to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was contacted by a licensed firearms dealer earlier this month about a customer who asked about buying a machine gun without registering the weapon.

After attempting to purchase several machine guns from an undercover ATF agent, the unnamed individual — who said he had been a bodyguard for T.I. since July 2007 — was arrested. He said that he was buying the machine guns and silencers for T.I. and began cooperating with the government.

The rapper, born Clifford Harris, was arrested without incident in the parking lot of a K-Mart in Doraville, where he had instructed the bodyguard to buy weapons from what turned out to be an undercover agent. The bodyguard revealed that he had bought about 25 firearms over the past 18 months for the rapper, who is legally barred from owning firearms due to his status as a convicted felon.

T.I.'s girlfriend Tameka "Tiny" Cottle and Grandhustle rappers Mac Boney and Young Dro were also arrested. Mac Boney and Young Dro were not charged with any crimes and released, but Cottle, a former member of the R&B group Xscape, was charged with possession of marijuana and the drug Ecstasy.

A subsequent search of T.I.'s home recovered three rifles, two pistols and a revolver in the walk-in closet and safe in his bedroom.

"There are two sides to every story," T.I.'s lawyer Dwight Thomas told CNN. "I've seen copies of the documents as a result of the search, but I have not seen any evidence yet, in terms of any physical evidence."