Cyrus Langhorne
Maybach Music Group's Meek Mill can finally exhale. The hip-hop star's publicized 12-year legal war in Philadelphia has come to a sudden end.
On Tuesday, Meek had multiple charges fade to black after pleading guilty to illegal gun possession stemming from a past Philly bust.
This morning (August 27), those dozen-year-old charges were formally dropped at the Stout Criminal Justice Center in Meek’s native city. Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker dropped all remaining charges after Meek pled guilty to illegal possession of a firearm tied to the South Philly arrest. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the 32-year-old Robert Rihmeek Williams faces no further penalty. As recently as last year, the Dreamchasers Records founder had served several stints in prison for violating said probation in what has become a very high-profile legal battle. (Ambrosia For Heads)
The hip-hop superstar also spoke out on the charges getting officially dropped.
“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 said this morning. “I have always told the truth—that as a teenager, who saw many around me die from senseless gun violence, I carried a gun for protection. I take responsibility for that and—in conjunction with my work on the REFORM Alliance—I’ll continue to use my platform to make communities safer and reform our criminal justice system.”
Since 2009, Meek had experienced multiple stints in jail over probation violations related to the original arrest.
Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, said the whole case had been “mentally and emotionally challenging”, but that other people in the US also face similar ordeals. He’d originally gone to jail in 2009 after being arrested on gun and drug charges. He was released on parole after five months and given a 10-year probation period. (BBC)
Meek recently teamed up with music icon JAY-Z and vowed to take on social injustice reform.
His follow-up albums include the chart-topping “Dreams Worth More Than Money” and last year’s “Championships,” which includes performances from Jay-Z, his mentor, and former girlfriend Nicki Minaj. On July 24, just hours before the Pennsylvania Superior Court threw out his conviction, Meek Mill and Jay-Z announced they were launching a new label and starting a $50 million criminal justice reform group. (Yahoo! News)
