The lawyer representing at least eight alleged victims of rap star Clifford “T.I.” Harris and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle held a press conference today (March 1st) to detail the allegations against the pair, and offer some new information regarding the status of the case.
So far, no criminal charges or civil lawsuits have been filed against T.I. and Tiny, who are accused of numerous infractions, including drugging and raping at least 11 women.
Tyrone Blackburn, the lawyer representing at least eight women, says he forwarded evidence to the Attorney Generals in Georgia and California, claiming that the celebrity couple kidnapped, drugged, and raped women in incidents dating back to 2007.
Blackburn seeks to have T.I. and Tiny prosecuted for violating the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), as well as the RICO, Kidnapping, Rape and Terrorist Threats Statutes.
During the press conference this morning, Blackburn claimed T.I. and Tiny’s high-powered lawyer Steve Sadow reached out to him on February 11th and claimed the “Family Hustle” stars were attempting to reach some sort of settlement deal to thwart any pending criminal charges.
“If the deal involves Tiny and T.I. turning themselves in and admitting to the crimes that they’ve committed, then fine, we got a deal,” Tyrone Blackburn said during a press conference today (March 1st). “If it does not, then I would prefer to have the investigators do their work and to bring criminal charges against Tiny and T.I. for what they’ve done throughout the years,” Tyrone Blackburn continued. “And at that point in time, we will assess whether or not we will be bringing any civil charges. But first things first, there needs to be a criminal investigation.”
According to Blackburn, Steve Sadow pressed him for more information on the victims during the phone call, which he said took place on February 11th.
He [T.I.’s lawyer Steve Sadow] wanted to know the names. He was insistent on learning who the individuals were and what evidence that they had. And he wants to know who the witnesses were. And I said to him, I made it very clear, ‘I will not be exposing these women to you or to your clients.’ The only people that will know their names will be the investigators because your client has a reputation of intimidation, your client has a reputation of committing violent acts. And he’s threatened some of these women in real-time when the incidents occurred. And he’s had his staff or his colleagues threaten them. So why would I provide you with their identity so you can intimidate them now again?”
T.I. and Tiny’s lawyer issued a statement to AllHipHop.com and flatly denied he made any overtures to settle on behalf of T.I. and Tiny, although he did admit to asking for information on the victims, presumably to craft a defense for his clients.
“I understand that at a virtual press conference today, attorney Blackburn claimed the Harrises reached out to him through me to supposedly make a deal. That is patently false,” Steve Sadow told AllHipHop.com in a statement.
“I reached out to see if he would share any information since his name was posted on Instagram as the attorney for Sabrina Peterson. Blackburn repeatedly refused to provide the names of his accuser-clients or any corroborating or supporting evidence of his groundless claims. The Harrises repeat that they are confident if a thorough and fair investigation is conducted, no charges will be brought,” Steve Sadow concluded.
