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Sixers’ Michael Rubin blasts judge in Meek Mill case for barring travel to playoff game

Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin accused Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley of having a "vendetta" against the rapper.

Recording artist Meek Mill (right) speaks about his incarceration along with Philadelphia 76ers co-owner and Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin at the launch of Reform Alliance, a partnership among entertainment moguls, entrepreneurs, recording artists, and business and sports leaders who hope to transform the American criminal justice system.
Recording artist Meek Mill (right) speaks about his incarceration along with Philadelphia 76ers co-owner and Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin at the launch of Reform Alliance, a partnership among entertainment moguls, entrepreneurs, recording artists, and business and sports leaders who hope to transform the American criminal justice system.Read moreKathy Willens / AP
    by Diane Mastrull
    Updated 
    Published 

Michael Rubin, a limited partner in the 76ers, took to social media to deride the Philadelphia judge overseeing rapper Meek Mill’s case for apparently not approving his travel to Canada to cheer on the team Saturday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Raptors.

“I know you have a vendetta against Meek Mill and are obsessed with trying to control every aspect of his life, but did you really NOT approve him to go to rep the sixers in Toronto for the game? Do you also hate PHILLY?" Rubin posted on Instagram, directing his remarks to Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley.

The Instagram post had attracted more than 25,000 likes as of about an hour before the game started.

Born Robert Rihmeek Williams, Mill was sentenced by Brinkley in November 2017 to two to four years in prison for again violating his probation from a 2008 drug and gun case. Brinkley, long associated with the hip-hop performer’s history in the criminal justice system, had been exasperated over his two arrests that year before he sought treatment for addiction to the prescription narcotic Percocet.

After five months behind bars, Mill was released on bail last April after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted him “extraordinary relief” due to credibility questions raised by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office about the arresting officer on a 2007 gun and drug charge.

He was whisked from the state prison in Chester to a helicopter, where he joined Rubin on a short flight to Philadelphia to catch the Sixers playing the Miami Heat.

He would not enjoy a similar opportunity to watch Saturday’s game in person. According to Rubin’s post, Brinkley did not respond to “numerous phone calls” and a personal visit to her courtroom from lawyers on behalf of Mill, who remains on probation and whose travel to Canada would need the judge’s approval.

Brinkley could not be reached for comment. Court records indicate in March she authorized trips by Mill to the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany

Reaction on social media was mixed, with some suggesting rules are rules.

Some were just resigned to Mill’s limitations.

Since his release from prison, Mill has been working on criminal justice reform with The Reform Alliance, which he cochairs with Rubin. Rapper Jay-Z is also part of that initiative.

In recognition of that work, Philadelphia last month declared March 15-17 “Meek Mill Weekend.”

Staff writer Jeremy Roebuck contributed to this article.