The rumors of Meek Mill being released from prison on Monday are unfortunately false, and have conflated a scheduled status conference hearing with Judge Genece Brinkley with the notion that Meek will be a free man next week.
“As far as I know there is no truth to those reports,” Meek's lawyer Joe Tacopina told Philly Voice in regards to the wishful thinking reported as fact by various blogs. In case you’ve forgotten, Meek was sentenced to two to four years in November for violating his probation for 10-year-old gun and drug charges. This was a notoriously criticized decision of Judge Brinkley’s, with celebrities and lawmakers alike claiming Brinkley is overstepping her bounds. Jay Z himself made efforts to convey that notion to as many people as possible. It's also been alleged that Brinkley gave Meek career advice, and asked him to reference her in his music.
Meek himself feels like his current situation had already been decided once he was put on probation. “It was always a thought in the back of my mind that 10 years of probation would bring me back to prison,” he told NBC’s Lester Holt, who spoke with Meek on the phone. The exchange—part of a longer conversation airing on NBC Nightly News tonight—is a pretty disheartening talk to hear.
When asked if thought he’d still be going through this seemingly endless ordeal, Meek said, “No, I wouldn’t have believed that I would be on probation this long. I talk about they gave me 10 years of probation and I know, almost for sure in my mind, this will bring me back to prison.” He then distinguishes between standard violations of probation and “police contact,” which is what got him into trouble. As Meek puts it, he could’ve been stopped for jaywalking and be in breach of his probation terms just as punishable as a serious criminal offense would be. Obviously, our criminal justice system is in serious need of reform.
