Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Und.) used of a criminal charge for a petty crime, e.g., meatball beef, meatball rap [the smallness or commonness, thus unimportance, of the food].

1944		in A. Hassler Diary of a Self-Made Convict (1955) 65: ‘Nine years a square John,’ he burst out at me, ‘and now I’m in on a meatball rap!’.
1952		‘Hal Ellson’ Golden Spike 240: ‘They caught me with a set of works.’ ‘Aw, that’s a meatball rap, you’ll get out tomorrow.’.
1959		W. Brown Teen-Age Mafia 133: Armed robbery is no meatball rap.
1964		J.D. Harris Junkie Priest 83: The arrest was a frame, a meatball rap, but you took it in your stride .
1976		M. Braly False Starts 186: It was a meatball beef.
1980		D. Hamill Stomping Ground 168: A meatball charge like underage drinking [HDAS].
1999		E. E. Bunker Mr Blue 264: This meatball case could be stalled for many months.

2. (US) stupid [meatball n. (1)].

1965		R. Hardman Chaplains Raid 7: In all of recorded United States Marine Corps history has there ever been such a meatball deal? [HDAS].
1976		H. Kissinger in Woodward & Bernstein Final Days 188: You tell our meatball President I’ll be there in a few minutes .