A major burden has been lifted from Meek Mill‘s shoulders, thanks to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. The politician pardoned the rapper for gun and drug charges he acquired back in 2008.
In celebration of the occasion, Meek took to social media to express his gratitude. “Thank yall. I’m only gone do more for my community on God!” he wrote on Instagram alongside the pardon document. #newlevelsunlocked.”
“I got pardoned today…,” he added on Twitter. “I’m taking things really far from being a trench baby!”
Meek picked up the drug and weapons charges in 2008 when he was 18 years old. He was initially sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison, but was released under a five-year parole agreement after eight months. In the years that followed, the rapper was arrested and charged a few times for probation violations, which ultimately resulted in a two- to four-year sentence in state prison. He was granted bail after serving five months of his sentence.
Following Meek’s allegations that Judge Genece Brinkley, who presided over his case, was biased against him, the appeals court overturned his conviction in 2019. The rapper was granted a new trial with a different judge.
Meek, whose experience led to the formation of the criminal justice reform organization Reform Alliance, was one of 369 individuals to receive a pardon from Wolf. The pardon permanently expunges the 2008 offenses from his criminal record.
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