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Meek Mill, who spent time in prison and on
probation after he was convicted on drug and gun charges in
2008, will face no other penalties as part of his plea agreement
with prosecutors, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, citing a
court hearing.
"I’m extremely grateful that my long legal battle is finally
behind me and I appreciate that it has sparked a much-needed
discussion about probation reform and the inequalities that
exist within our two Americas," Meek Mill said on Twitter on
Tuesday.
Meek Mill, an African-American man whose given name is Robert
Rihmeek Williams, became a cause célèbre for musicians,
celebrities and criminal justice reform campaigners who said his
case was typical of a U.S. legal system that treats minorities
unjustly.
A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled last month that Mill was
entitled to a new trial after it found that Philadelphia Judge
Genece Brinkley, who presided over a 2008 trial that resulted in
his conviction, was no longer impartial.
In November 2017, Brinkley sentenced the rapper to up to four
years in prison, saying a pair of arrests violated probation
conditions she set following his 2008 convictions. He served
five months before the state’s top court granted him bail.
Neither of the arrests resulted in convictions.
The sole witness against Meek Mill at his 2008 trial was a
discredited Philadelphia narcotics squad officer who is no
longer with the city’s police force.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Matthew
Lewis)
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