Rapper Clifford T. I. Harris will remain in custody until this Friday after being charged over the weekend with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers, as well as possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

CNN reports that 27-year-old Clifford Harris, better known professionally as T. I., will remain in custody until a bond hearing Friday, according to what a federal magistrate said Monday.

The rapper, arrested Saturday afternoon in an Atlanta parking lot, remained in federal custody through the weekend. Saturday’s arrest came as a result of T. I.’s bodyguard’s decision to cooperate with agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

According to authorities, the rapper entrusted his bodyguard with $12,000 to acquire unregistered weapons, which he himself is not allowed to own because he is a convicted felon.

The bodyguard attempted to buy the weapons from an undercover ATF agent last Wednesday and was arrested. He agreed to cooperate with the agency and lead them to T. I. He set up a meeting with the rapper, to deliver three machine guns and two silencers, according to a Justice Department statement.

T. I. was subsequently arrested. A search of his car and home led to the discovery of nine more guns.

David E. Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement: “This convicted felon allegedly was trying to add several machine guns to an already large and entirely illegal arsenal of guns.”

“Thanks to the good and quick work of ATF, he is now in custody and his firearms have been seized,” Nahmias added, as quoted by Reuters.

T. I. has a history of illegal activity and was convicted of a violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act in 1998 and given seven years probation, the Department of Justice said.

CNN reports that one of the artist’s lawyers, Dwight Thomas, said he was not aware T. I. was a convicted felon and that “a number of people” live in his suburban Atlanta home, adding that there are always “two sides to every story, sometimes three.”

Thomas also told the New York Daily News that he hopes T. I.’s music is more important to fans than his brushes with the law. “When this is all over, we can clear T.I.'s name and he can go back to making the wonderful music he is known for. He's confident in the American legal system and that it will work in his favor.”

The rapper’s arrest came just hours before a scheduled performance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. He was nominated in nine categories and won two awards, after the arrest, for Best CD of the Year, a tie with Common, and Best Ringtone for “Big Things Poppin’.”