With the news about Meek mill’s sentence hitting the internet, a lot of celebrities have weighed in on the matter at hand. Rap Music Mogul Jay-Z denounced Meek Mill’s two-to-four year prison sentence for violating probation as “unjust and heavy-handed” in a message on Facebook Monday night.
“The sentence handed down by the Judge – against the recommendation of the Assistant District Attorney and Probation Officer – is unjust and heavy-handed,” Jay-Z said. “We will always stand by and support Meek Mill, both as he attempts to right this wrongful sentence and then in returning to his musical career.”
While Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company manages Meek Mill, the former has also become a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform.
On Monday, a Philadelphia judge handed down Meek Mill’s prison sentence after the rapper violated his probation with a pair of arrests earlier this year. The rapper, born Robert Williams, was arrested in March after a fight in the St. Louis airport, though those charges were dropped. In October, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a video was posted of him doing wheelies on a dirt bike in New York City.
Per Philly.com, Meek Mill’s probation stems from a 2008 drug and weapons case that landed the rapper in prison for eight months. He initially received five years probation, but his failure to report to a probation officer or get prior approval for traveling outside of Philadelphia earned him an additional five months in prison in 2013, while his probation was extended to 10 years. Most recently, in February 2016, Meek Mill was put on house arrest for 90 days after another probation violation.