#FreeMeekMill? Philly Judge Says No Dice
Fans of Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill shouldn’t plan on seeing the self-proclaimed king of the city perform anytime in the immediate future. The 27-year-old will be spending the next three to six months in prison, thanks to a probation violation earlier this month.
According to Radio.com, the artist’s lawyers attempted to schedule an “emergency hearing” rather than waiting for September to push for a shorter sentence. A judge denied that request.
This could be because his first hearing with Judge Genece E. Brinkley didn’t go particularly smoothly, making Meek appear, well, unrepentant.
The Inquirer reported some of the courtroom proceedings:
Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, pleaded with Brinkley to let him continue working. Mill said his career supports him, his mother, sister, son, and other friends and placed his monthly expenses at $80,000 to $90,000.
“It took me 15 years to get here, and this will be extremely damaging to my life,” Mill said.
Brinkley referred to almost two years of probation violation hearings spent trying to reconcile the terms of his probation with Mill’s burgeoning international concert schedule.
“You just don’t get it,” the judge said.
It probably doesn’t help that his original conviction was for a drug and gun case in 2009, and yet he still saw fit to post this picture on Instagram:
The upside (Can there be an upside to someone doing time?) is that Mill’s upcoming album, slated to be released September 9th, still seems to be on track. Rick Ross, head of Maybach Music, assured MTV News that Dreams Worth More Than Money will proceed despite its creator’s incarceration.
“Meek Mill ran into some unfortunate legal issues,” Ross told MTV News. “It happens.”
Uhh, sure it does.
