The Philadelphia judge who has been the target of wrath from Meek Mill fans is standing her ground, saying she “committed no error.” She also again denied a defense request for bail.
Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley, in a 48-page opinion filed Thursday, wrote that she had not erred by not recusing herself in Mill’s case. She also said she had found sufficient evidence that he had violated his probation and that the prison sentence of two to four years that she imposed on him “was not manifestly excessive.”
On Nov. 6, she found that he again had violated his probation stemming from a 2007 drug-and-gun arrest. She ordered Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, taken into custody to serve his prison sentence.
The court was lenient with the rapper so that he could work on rehabilitation from opioid abuse, but he repeatedly “thumbed his nose” at those efforts, Brinkley wrote.
“Instead of simply complying with the terms and conditions of his probation so he could finish out his sentence and continue to work, [Mill] continued to disregard this Court’s directions and did whatever he wanted to do,” she wrote.
The judge added that the 2- to 4-year prison sentence was “reasonable,” “appropriate” and necessary to “vindicate” and assert the court’s authority.
Meek Mill was arrested in 2007 on drug and weapon violations. He went to jail and was released on parole in 2009 after serving six months. While on parole, he tested positive for drugs, left the city without permission, engaged in a fight in the St. Louis airport, and illegally operated an ATV on the streets of New York City.
