Meek Mill was sentenced to two to four years in state prison for violating probation in a nearly decade-old gun and drug case. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
After failing to step down from Meek Mill’s case, Judge Genece Brinkley has rejected requests from the rapper’s legal team to release him from a Philadelphia prison.
In her decision issued Monday, April 2, Brinkley wrote that it was “absolutely necessary” for Meek to remain incarcerated for violating the parole of a 10-year-old gun and drug case.
“Defendant received proper notice of all alleged probation violations in advance of his hearing,” she wrote in her decision, according to court documents obtained by the New York Daily News. “The sentence imposed was not manifestly excessive and this Court stated sufficient reasons on the record to support a state sentence of two to four years.”
The decision follows attempts by Meek’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, to get her to remove herself from the case amid allegations she is biased against his client. The rapper’s legal team has filed documents with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to have Brinkley removed over “bias and…unusual personal interest.”
The team has previously accused her of trying to get Meek to switch management and re-record Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee” to include a tribute to her.
However, Brinkley denies this in her statement writing that the “bald allegation has no basis in reality.”
“The court has repeatedly told Defendant that he cannot demand special treatment just because he has chosen to be an entertainer,” she added.
She also accused Meek’s lawyers of “fabricating” reports that the FBI had been monitoring court proceedings, which was initially reported in November. At the time a source said agents have been at the hearings since April 2016. The FBI, however, has not confirmed nor denied the probe.
In response to Brinkley’s decision, Tacopina said it’s proof that Brinkley has a “personal vendetta” against Meek.
“In spite of the recommendations from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, which was supported by Governor Tom Wolf, the judge continues to stand alone in supporting Officer Reginald Graham’s perjured testimony as well as his criminal behavior that has been documented,” he said in a statement to the Daily News.
Graham had been found to have roughed up Meek during his 2008 arrest and admitted lying, a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer found.
