Milton Street’s Lawyer: Milton’s No Felon

Street is exploring "all possible legal remedies" after a TV guest called him "a former felon."

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Milton Street, who is planning to launch a mayoral campaign soon, has lawyered up as a result of a guest’s comments about him on 6ABC’s Inside Story.

Nia Meeks, who previously worked as a spokeswoman for mayoral candidate state Sen. Anthony Williams, called Street a “former felon” on the TV show. Street served time in a federal prison for not paying his taxes.

“He’s a former state senator and a former felon. I guess that would have a lot of appeal for some people,” said Meeks, discussing how Street’s entry into the race would affect Williams’ chances. “I don’t necessarily see Milton Street doing too much damage to Senator Williams per se.”

Sean Stevens, Street’s attorney, says Street will be exploring “all possible legal remedies” over Meeks’ comment. Meeks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Here is Stevens’ press release:

Today, January 27, 2015, my services were retained by T. Milton Street in regards to a statement made by Nia Meeks on the January 25, 2015 edition of Inside Story that was broadcast on 6ABC. It is the intention of T. Milton Street to explore all possible legal remedies in this matter. The segment in which the statement was made was focused on mayoral candidates for the City of Philadelphia.

Nia Meeks, an experienced award winning journalist, asserted that my client was a convicted felon. This statement is simply inaccurate as to my client, T. Milton Street, and the depiction of my client as a felon is extremely damaging to my client as he possibly begins his candidacy for Mayor of Philadelphia.

The entire statement made by Ms. Meeks during a roundtable discussion was, “He has the street cred of, I don’t know, he’s a former state rep and a former felon.” By incorrectly stating that my client was a convicted felon Ms. Meeks has damaged my client’s ability to solicit funds from potential donors as these donors may now falsely believe that T. Milton Street would not be able to be seated as Mayor if elected. This perception is incorrect as my client was convicted of three misdemeanor offenses under 26 U.S.C. Section 7203, and has never been convicted of a felony. The crimes my client were convicted of do not prevent him from holding office if he were to be elected by the public by either the City Charter or by the Constitution of our Commonwealth.

Ms. Meeks an experienced reporter who has worked for at least three publications and has served as a panelist on Inside Story for many years, either knew that the statement that she made was false or she showed reckless disregard for the actual truth in making her statement on Inside Story.