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Court Clerk Fired for Asking Defendant for Money

By William Vogeler, Esq. on January 31, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

From the list of things not to do in court, don't ask a criminal defendant for money -- especially if you work for the court.

Wanda Chavarria, a Pennsylvania court clerk, apparently didn't get that memo. But she did give a note to Meek Mill at a probation hearing, asking the rapper for money to help pay for her son's tuition.

Chavarria has been fired over the incident, but the case gets weirder. The defense attorneys claim the judge tried to get a favor from the rapper, too.

Rapper's Rap Sheet

Judge Genece Brinkley sentenced Mill in November to two to four years for violating probation. He was on probation for drug and weapons charges in 2008.

At the sentencing hearing, the judge said she had given Meek multiple chances but he hadn't complied with probation conditions. Mill had violated travel restrictions and had been arrested twice last year -- once for assault and another time for reckless endangerment.

The clerk, desperate to help her son through college, slipped Meek a note. Apparently, she thought that's how it's done in Philly.

"IT TAKES A VILLAGE!!!" she wrote.

A Shout-Out

Chavarria later admitted she tapped the rapper for money, and then the judge was accused of trying to get him to hire a friend as his manager. It made all the papers, of course.

However, court papers showed the allegation wasn't true. According to TMZ, a probation officer -- not the judge -- had urged Meek to hire Charlie Mack because he was "a good influence."

Meek's lawyers said Brinkley was trying to strong-arm him in chambers, but the judge had distanced herself from the discussion between the rapper and the probation officer. Meek claimed she also asked him to "rerecord a Boyz II Men song and give her a shout-out."

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