A free man. Meek Mill was released from prison on Tuesday, April 24, Us Weekly can confirm.
According to TMZ, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted the 30-year-old rapper bail, overruling Judge Genece Brinkley’s previous denial one week earlier. He spent nearly five months in jail after being sentenced to two to four years in prison for violating probation.
Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, took to Instagram on Tuesday to celebrate his freedom and to praise his support system. “I’d like to thank God, my family, my friends, my attorneys, my team at Roc Nation including Jay Z, Desiree Perez, my good friend Michael Rubin, my fans, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court and all my public advocates for their love, support and encouragement during this difficult time,” he wrote. “While the past five months have been a nightmare, the prayers, visits, calls, letters and rallies have helped me stay positive.”
The “All Eyes on You” singer also expressed his gratitude to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. “I’m grateful for your commitment to justice — not only for my case, but for others that have been wrongfully jailed due to police misconduct,” he continued. “Although I’m blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues.”
He added: “In the meantime, I plan to work closely with my legal team to overturn this unwarranted conviction and look forward to reuniting with my family and resuming my music career.”
Mill previously opened up about his incarceration in an interview with Rolling Stone while behind bars. “I won’t let [my family] come,” he told the publication. “If they see me like this — f—ked-up beard, hair all ganked — then it’s like I’m really in here. Which I’m not.”
The MC noted that he’s staying strong and refusing to let Judge Brinkley “win.” She previously convicted him on gun and drug charges nearly 10 years ago and has since sent him to jail two more times, once in 2014 and most recently in November 2017 for violating his probation.
Brinkley jailed the MC last year for popping a wheelie on a dirt bike in New York City last August. She initially charged him with felony reckless endangerment, although it was eventually dropped to a misdemeanor and then dismissed. Nonetheless, Brinkley charged Mill with violating his probation and cited a failed drug test and Mill’s noncompliance with a trial restriction as reasons for his sentence, even though the district attorney and the probation department hadn’t suggested jail time.
“There’s brothers locked down that did nothing to be here but piss off people like Brinkley,” Mill told the magazine. “I want to speak on this system and what it does to black people — on both f—king sides of the fence.”
