“Hold on, wait a minute, y’all thought I was finished?”
The wait is finally over as the news has been confirmed that incarcerated rapper Meek Mill will be released from prison tonight in time for the Philadelphia 76ers playoff game versus the Miami Heat, where he will be in attendance to ring the pre-game bell before the game at the Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia.
Meek Mill (real name Robert Williams), the former boyfriend of Nicki Minaj, tweeted thanking his family and public advocates – which included Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft – and said he looks forward to returning to making music.
I’d like to thank God, my family, and all my public advocates for their love, support and encouragement during this difficult time. While the past five months have been a nightmare, the prayers, visits, calls, letters and rallies have helped me stay positive.
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) April 24, 2018
To the Philly District Attorney’s office, I’m grateful for your commitment to justice. I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues.
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) April 24, 2018
In the meantime, I plan to work closely with my legal team to overturn this unwarranted conviction and look forward to reuniting with my family and resuming my music career.
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) April 24, 2018
Co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and the New Jersey Devils hockey team, Michael Rubin, will reportedly pick up the 30-year-old MMG rapper from prison at some point tonight. Rubin has been one of Meek’s many supporters and has visited him several times in jail.
Joe Tacopina, Meek’s lawyer had this to say:
“We are thrilled that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has directed Judge Brinkley to immediately issue an order releasing Meek on bail. As we have said all along, Meek was unjustly convicted and should not have spent a single day in jail. We are also pleased that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has noted that Judge Brinkley may opt to remove herself from presiding over any further proceedings in Meek’s case in the interests of justice. Meek is excited to be reunited with his family, and we, along with Meek, intend to continue to shine the light on a justice system in need of reform to prevent any other citizen from being put through what Meek has endured.”
Much controversy has surrounded Meek’s case dating back to when he was sentenced in November to two to four years in prison for violating probation on a nearly decade-old gun and drug case.
Judge Genece Brinkley, who sentenced him for the probation violation, said he had wasted several chances to clean up his act after a 2009 gun and drug case. The sentence came even against the recommendation of the prosecutor, who said the rapper had matured since his original crime. Brinkley said the prosecutor did not know the case as well as she did and that Mill just “does what he wants.” Demonstrators took to the streets at the time in protest.
It was said that Judge Brinkley had a personal vendetta against Meek from the start which reportedly had something to do with her requesting he re-record a Boyz II Men song and shout her out. She also apparently wanted him to leave Roc Nation to sign with a friend of hers.
Meek Mill was arrested twice – once in St. Louis for an alleged altercation in the airport and another time for alleged reckless driving in New York City involving a dirt bike.
JAY-Z wrote a piece for the New York Times back in November and called the Meek’s sentence “just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day.”
He wrote that Meek Mill had been “stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside” and said that when he was growing up in Brooklyn in the ’70s and ’80s, he saw probation become a “landmine” for many. He pointed out that a “random misstep” could bring consequences greater than the crime.
“A person on probation can end up in jail over a technical violation like missing a curfew,” he continued. “As of 2015, one-third of the 4.65 million Americans who were on some form of parole or probation were black. Black people are sent to prison for probation and parole violations at much higher rates than white people.”
During a concert in Dallas last year JAY-Z stopped the music to acknowledge Meek Mill and say: “He caught a charge when he was, like, 19. He’s 30 now, he’s been on probation for 11 years. Fucking 11 years. Judge gave him two to four years because he got arrested for being on a bike and popping a fucking wheelie.”
Welcome home Meek!
