Gunna To Be Released After Pleading Guilty To Racketeering & Gang Charges
Gunna and his YSL Records label head Young Thug have been in custody since their arrest on RICO charges in May. Despite many appeals by both rappers, neither has been granted bond until today.
As Atlanta’s WSB-TV reports, Gunna, born Sergio Kitchens, “entered a negotiated plea, known as an Alford plea, in which he plead guilty on one charge because it was in his best interest while maintaining his innocence on the same charge.” As a result of the plea, Gunna was sentenced to five years with one served, and the one-year sentence was then commuted to time served. The remaining four years of his sentence have been suspended and will be subject to special conditions including 500 hours of community service.
“While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way,” Gunna wrote in a statement issued after his sentence came down. He added that upon joining YSL in 2016, he did not view it as a gang but “more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations. My focus of YSL was entertainment — rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community.”
Young Thug remains in prison awaiting trial.