Judge in Meek Mill case hires attorney, threatens lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Philadelphia judge who's been targeted for months with harsh criticism for sentencing Meek Mill to prison on a probation violation has hired a lawyer who is threatening to sue for defamation.

Attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr. said Thursday that Judge Genece Brinkley hired him last week. He says Mill's legal team has been making baseless claims to the media about the judge's personal and professional conduct.

Attorney Joe Tacopina is representing Mill. He says the rapper's legal team looks forward to fighting any lawsuit.

Philadelphia-born Mill was sentenced in November to two to four years in prison for violating probation on a roughly decade-old gun and drug case. Mill's lawyers have unsuccessfully appealed the sentence multiple times and have called for Brinkley to recuse herself from the case.