A court clerk who admitted to asking rapper Meek Mill at his sentencing hearing last fall for money to help pay her son’s college tuition was fired Tuesday, Philadelphia court administrators said.
Wanda Chavarria, who had been employed by the court system for nearly three decades, told TMZ.com over the weekend that she had hoped Mill would look favorably upon her request because he was from Philadelphia. She insisted that Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley – whom Mill’s backers have fiercely criticized for her handling of the rapper’s case – was unaware that she had slipped the 30-year-old rapper a letter with her plea shortly before he was sentenced.
Gabriel Roberts, a spokesman for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that Chavarria had been terminated after a brief review of her conduct during the hearing.
“The Philadelphia courts have always prioritized fairness, impartiality, and the highest ethical standards,” Roberts said in a statement. “The courts fully expect all employees to conduct themselves in a principled and professional manner so as not to infringe upon the neutrality of the courtroom.”
Chavarria did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Her actions are just the latest instance of alleged misbehavior in a case already rife with accusations of ethical misconduct.
In her November letter, Chavarria lamented her dire finances and beseeched Mill to help pay for her son’s final semester at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Source: philly.com
