American hip-hop artiste Meek Mill has been sentenced to four years in prison for violating his probation. The 30-year-old rapper was shocked to receive the ruling given by Philadelphia judge Genece E. Brinkley.
He was deemed to have ‘thumbed his nose at the court’ by repeatedly getting arrested during his five year probation stemming from a 2008 drugs and gun charges. After travelling out of town without informing the court in 2009, his probation period was extended by another five years.
In October, Mill pleaded guilty in Manhattan to reckless driving charges after he was arrested for doing wheelies and other stunts on a dirt bike on city streets and then posting video of his performance online. He was also arrested in March for fighting at a St. Louis airport — although those charges were dropped after he agreed to perform community service.
Meek Mill had earlier tried to convince the court not to jail him by speaking for nearly forty minutes, saying that the violations were simply errors and not disrespect to the court.
‘I’m human. I’m not perfect,’ he said. ‘I’m asking for mercy. You gave me the ladder to do what I have to do to prevail in my struggle. I made it this far, I can’t really go back and start over.’
But the judge who has been on his case since 2008 was not swayed and handed him the sentence.He was taken into custody immediately and his lawyer promised to appeal the sentence.