Rapper Meek Mill is pardoned by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf
By Zoe Sottile, CNN
Rapper Meek Mill has been officially pardoned by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
Meek Mill on Thursday night announced the pardon of his conviction on firearms and drug charges on social media. On Instagram, he posted the official pardon document.
In the caption, the Philadelphia native thanked his fans. “I’m only gone do more for my community on god,” he wrote.
Meek Mill was originally convicted in 2008 and sentenced to probation. In 2018, he received a two-to-four year prison sentence for violating his probation, which sparked the viral #FreeMeekMill movement and triggered an outcry from criminal justice activists.
Since then, Meek Mill has become a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform, launching an organization called the REFORM Alliance in 2019. The organization “aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing” according to its website.
Meek Mill was one of 369 Pennsylvanians pardoned by the governor this week, a representative of the governor told CNN over email. The pardons granted in the past week raise Wolf’s total pardons to 2,540, the most ever granted by a Pennsylvania governor, according to a Thursday news release from the governor’s office.
An official pardon means “total forgiveness by the state for a criminal conviction” and allows a person to completely clear their criminal record, says the release.
“I have taken this process very seriously — reviewing and giving careful thought to each and every one of these 2,540 pardons and the lives they will impact,” said Wolf in the news release. “Every single one of the Pennsylvanians who made it through the process truly deserves their second chance, and it’s been my honor to grant it.”
When reached for comment, a representative for Meek Mill referred CNN to his social media post on the pardon.
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CNN’s Chloe Melas contributed to this story.
