Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe (D) has pardoned rapper Meek Mill, who has been in and out of courts and jail for more than a decade.
Mill, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, revealed on Thursday that he was pardoned by Gov. Wolfe in an Instagram post, writing, “Thankyall, I’m only gone do more for my community on god!”
Mill’s legal battles began in 2007, when he was accused of selling crack, according to a report by Rolling Stone. In 2008, the rapper was found guilty of a gun charges and sentenced to two years in a county prison and eight years of probation.
After getting out of jail, Mill spent over a decade on probation and went back to prison multiple times for violating his probation.
In 2012, Mill was arrested for suspected marijuana use, as well as accused of violating his parole twice, and was restricted from traveling. Then in 2014, the rapper was sentenced to three to six months in after he failed to get a judge’s permission to travel for concerts.
By 2015, Mill was barred from performing and recording until February 2016 due to parole violations. Then in February 2016, the rapper was sentenced to 90 days of house arrest and community service.
In March 2017, Mill was charged with misdemeanor assault in St. Louis airport. And then in November of that year, the rapper was sentenced to two to four years in jail after he failed a drug test.
In 2018, however, the rapper successfully appealed his 2008 conviction, arguing that the police officer who was a witness in his trial lacked credibility. That officer was “investigated by federal authorities for several alleged acts of corruption,” according to a report by TMZ.
Gov. Wolfe’s pardon means that Mill’s other offenses will no longer be on his record.
In 2019, Mill, along with several other big names in sports and entertainment — such as fellow rapper Jay-Z, as well as the owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, and the New England Patriots — launched REFORM Alliance, saying they would be lobbying for changes to state probation and parole laws.
In December, the rapper paid bail for 20 women incarcerated at Riverside Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so that they could spend Christmas at home.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.