Celebrity News

Mendeecees Harris’ Lawyer Wants His 8 Year Sentence Thrown Out After Accusing Judge Of Sentencing Under Old Guidelines

Published

9 years ago

July 24, 2017

Love & Hip Hop’s Mendeecees Harris has been locked up for the past two years but it still hasn’t deterred him from trying to appeal his case. The reality star’s lawyer is arguing that his client was tried under expired sentencing guidelines and has since filed paperwork to vacate his 8-year sentence. According to Bossip, his lawyer wants to cut Mendeecees’ sentence in half, stating that he should have only been locked up for 3.5 years for his role in a drug trafficking ring in New York.

via Bossip:

In 2015, a federal judge sentenced Mendeecees to eight to ten years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring that flooded upstate New York with heroin and cocaine. As part of his plea deal, Mendeecees admitted that from 2006 to 2008, he helped to ferry hard drugs from New York City to the Rochester, NY area.
Mendeecees later argued that he was sentenced under expired guidelines, but the judge later ruled that Mendeecees wasn’t eligible for the sentence reduction because he OK’d the plea deal and because of the large amount of drugs involved.

However, Mendeecees argued in his appeal that even though he OK’d the plea, it was ultimately up to the judge to make sure that the sentence was within the appropriate guidelines. He also argued that the amount of drugs distributed in the ring were irrelevant because he maintained that his role was that of a relatively minor courier – not a kingpin.

Mendeecees has maintained that there was no evidence that he knew the ins and outs of the drug ring or had decision making authority.

In his appeal, Mendeecees’ lawyer characterized the Harlem man as a model suspect and inmate: turning himself in voluntarily before his sentencing, agreeing to forfeit nearly $200,000 in income from “Love & Hip Hop” and speaking to kids to warn them about street life and drug dealing.
On the inside, the father of four said he successfully completed a substance abuse prevention program, classes on how to parent from prison and courses in money management, health and nutrition and public speaking.
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His lawyer argued that the court should have also taken into consideration that he is the breadwinner for four young children, his rough childhood and how he parlayed that into a reality show role.

A judge has yet to rule on Mendeecees’ appeal.

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Jeff Lewis (@JeffFromHarlem) successful career thus far in media and publishing is quickly on the rise. Since the start of his career in 2009, he has become one of the most influential bloggers/pop culture commentators in New York City. If you read the blogs or spend time using social media, it's almost impossible not to stumble upon his work.