Pennsylvania government officials delivered a blow to Meek Mill’s supporters who launched a petition calling on the governor to overturn his recent prison sentence.
Philadelphia judge Genece Brinkley sentenced Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, to 2-4 years in prison last week after he failed a urine test and left the state without permission.
Mill will likely serve at least 2 years of his sentence since there is no provision for an early release. The 30-year-old troubled rapper repeatedly snubbed his nose at the law, and now he is paying the price.
Jay-Z was among Mill’s celebrity friends who criticized the sentence as “too harsh”.
A petition calling for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to pardon Mill has already garnered over 300,000 signatures.
But Pennsylvania officials say Gov. Wolf can not step in and reverse Mill’s conviction unless the Board of Pardons compels him to.
“Pennsylvania law does not give the governor any unilateral power to review, reconsider or change a conviction,” Wolf’s press secretary, J.J. Abbott said. “The law provides for individuals to apply to the Board of Pardons, which makes recommendations to the governor.”
So Mill’s lawyer has applied to the Board of Pardons, but that might be a waste of time, as the application process can take up to three years. Mill will be out of prison by then — if he is on his best behavior behind bars.
The moral of this story is: don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images
