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Criminal trial in Atlanta, Georgia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The YSL Records racketeering trial is an ongoing criminal case in Fulton County, Georgia, which involves American rapper Young Thug (born Jeffery Williams) and several associates from his record label, YSL Records (Young Stoner Life Records).[1][2] The trial began on November 27, 2023, following a May 2022 indictment that charged 28 individuals associated with YSL under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.[3] Prosecutors alleged that YSL functions as a criminal street gang while simultaneously operating as a hip hop music record label.[4] Fulton County Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville presided over the case until he was recused after complaints were registered about a secret meeting he held with prosecutors and a key witness. Glanville was replaced with Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.[5]
| YSL Records racketeering trial | |
|---|---|
| |
| Court | Superior Court of Fulton County |
| Full case name | State of Georgia vs. Jeffery Williams et al. |
| Started | November 27, 2023 |
| Charge | Conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting |
|
While numerous affiliates were removed from the case through actions such as taking probation and plea deals,[6] Thug and five other individuals remain as defendants in the trial and have been denied bond numerous times,[7] with all of them facing multiple charges of racketeering, drug possession, and participation in criminal street gang activity, among other minor charges.[8] The case has been the longest criminal trial in Georgia's state history.[9][10] Many fellow artists, such as Travis Scott, Drake, Future, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Kanye West, Ty Dolla Sign and Post Malone have shown support for Thug during the case through songs and social media posts.[11][12]
On October 31, 2024, Williams accepted a plea deal.[13][14] He was released from jail the same day after being sentenced to 40 years: 5 years in prison (commuted to time served), 15 years of probation, and a backload of 20 years in prison if probation is violated.[15][16][17]
On May 9, 2022, Thug was arrested in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, at his house in Buckhead.[18] He was charged alongside 27 others in a 56-count RICO indictment that was filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.[19] Two days later, rapper Gunna (born Sergio Kitchens), who is a part of YSL, turned himself in to authorities.[20] Thug was later charged with additional gun-and-drug-related offenses after police raided his home.[21] The case was presided over by Fulton County Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville, who denied bond for everybody who was charged and scheduled the trial to begin on January 9, 2023.[22]
Gunna wrote a letter to his fans from prison on June 14, 2022, saying he was innocent and complaining about his loneliness.[23][3] On August 10, a new indictment was filed in which Thug received six more felony charges.[24] On October 13, Thug and Gunna were again denied release from jail ahead of the trial.[25] On December 14, Gunna was released from jail after he took an Alford plea, pleading guilty to a single charge of racketeering.[26] As a result, he was sentenced to five years in prison and 500 hours of community service, in which the first year was commuted to time served and the remaining four years were suspended due to probation conditions.[26] Following his release, some fellow rappers and many people on social media felt that he "snitched" on Thug by taking the plea deal to get out of jail.[27][28][29]
On January 18, 2023, an alleged drug exchange took place in the courtroom between Thug and YSL co-defendant Kahlieff Adams, and Adams received new charges after deputies found him in possession of Percocet, marijuana, tobacco and other contraband.[30] Thug was briefly hospitalized in May 2023 after falling ill during a court hearing.[31] On June 16, Gunna released his fourth studio album, A Gift & a Curse, in which he maintains his innocence and denies the snitching allegations.[32][33] A week later, Thug's third studio album, Business Is Business, was released while he was in jail.[34][35]
On November 9, Glanville ruled that song lyrics by defendants were allowed to be used as evidence.[36] He stated this is not an attack on free speech, saying that "they're not prosecuting your clients because of the songs they wrote"[37] and "they're using the songs to prove other things your clients may have been involved in".[38] The trial officially began on November 27, with the six defendants being Thug, fellow rappers Yak Gotti (born Deamonte Kendrick), Lil Rod (born Rodalius Ryan), Qua (born Marquavius Huey), SB (born Shannon Stillwell), and Quamarvious Nichols.[6] Thug's lawyer, Brian Steel, explained that the "Thug" in his name stood for "Truly Humble Under God" in the courtroom the following day.[39][40] On December 10, SB was stabbed in jail after another inmate entered his cell.[41] The inmate claimed SB tried to attack him with a knife and that the stabbing was an act of self-defense.[42]
On January 3, 2024, YSL co-defendant Trontavious Stephens identified himself, Thug, and Walter Murphy as the founders of the record label and claimed that it was only music-related and not a criminal street gang.[43][44] On February 16, YSL defense attorney Nicole Fegan, who represented former co-defendant Tenquarius Mender in the case, was arrested on charges of participating in criminal street gang activity and evidence tampering.[45] Four days later, a recording of an anonymous woman calling the police played in the courtroom, where she identified Thug as the gunman in a shooting, saying "They came to my house and told me that the guy who shot somebody's name was Young Thug, whoever that's supposed to be".[46][47] On April 4, Steel filed a motion for lead prosecutor Adriane Love to be removed from the trial as he felt that she was essentially acting as an unsworn witness in order to coerce defendants into admitting to wrongdoing. Glanville denied the motion.[48][3]
On June 10, Steel revealed in the courtroom that he found out that Glanville allegedly had a secret ex-parte meeting with the prosecution[49] and asked why he was not told about the meeting.[50] Steel refused to reveal his source of information, citing attorney–client privilege.[51] Glanville then had him taken into custody.[52] Nearly an hour later, Steel was brought back into the courtroom and continued to refuse to answer.[53] Glanville then held him in contempt of court.[2] Glanville sentenced Steel to 10 weekends in jail, starting on June 14 and ending on August 18.[54] Steel filed a motion on the same day to appeal the ruling, which was granted. The appeal was later approved.[55] He then filed another motion for Glanville to recuse himself for "acting unethical" and because he "morphed" into the prosecutor.[56] Glanville denied the motion[57] and the trial was paused on July 1 until a higher court ruled on the recusal.[58] Two weeks later, Glanville was recused and the trial resumed under the direction of Shukura L. Ingram.[59][9] Ingram recused herself three days later, citing "an improper relationship between a defendant and one of her former deputies".[60][61] Paige Reese Whitaker was assigned to the case.[62]
On September 30, Judge Whitaker chastised Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love for her mishandling of a witness, stating that she appeared to be "purposefully [hiding] the ball to the extent you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can… unless it's just that you are so unorganized that you are throwing this case together as you try it." This came after Love asked a witness to authenticate a document immediately after she had been allowed to do so by Whitaker, on the condition that the witness not authenticate the document.[63]
On October 29, Quamarvious Nichols pleaded guilty to a single count of violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering laws in exchange for his other charges being dropped and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 7 to be served and 13 years of probation.[64][65] On October 30, Marquavius "Qua" Huey pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, robbery, and several other counts and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with 9 to be served; Rodalius "Lil Rod" Ryan pleaded guilty to a single racketeering conspiracy charge and was sentenced to 10 years in prison which was commuted to time served due to him already serving a life sentence for a 2019 murder.[66][67] On October 31, it was revealed that Williams accepted a plea deal.[13][14] Later the same day, Williams was sentenced to 40 years: 5 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and a backload of 20 years in prison if probation is violated.[15] Williams' release and probation stipulations include him being banned from the Metro Atlanta area for 10 years, he can't make gang-related music, and he has to do four annual anti-gang presentations/concerts for Atlanta, alongside having no contact with known gang members or co-defendants (other than Gunna and his biological brother, both of whom were among his co-defendants).[68][69] Williams' 5 years in prison was commuted to time served and he was released the same day.[16][17]
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