Young Thug Is Free After Plea Deal In YSL Case

News October 31, 2024 8:28 PM By Chris DeVille

Young Thug Is Free After Plea Deal In YSL Case

News October 31, 2024 8:28 PM By Chris DeVille

The Young Thug trial is over, and the Atlanta rap legend is headed home. Thug, real name Jeffery Williams, accepted a plea deal in his RICO case, allowing him to go free under probation for the next 15 years, the New York Times reports.

Thug has been under arrest since May 2022 and on trial since November 2023 — the longest trial in Georgia history. He was charged with gun, drug, and gang-related crimes allegedly related to his record label YSL. He accepted a blind guilty plea, which means the judge decides his sentence, in addition to pleading no contest to two charges. The prosecution recommended 45 years, with 25 served followed by 20 on probation. The defense recommended 45 years with five served, commuted to the time already served in custody. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker decided on 40 years with five served, commuted to time served with 15 years probation. Brian Steel, Thug’s lawyer, said he accepted the deal because the lengthy legal proceedings were “holding this man hostage.”

If Thug does not meet the terms of his probation, he is subject to a possible 20 years in custody. He is also barred from the metro Atlanta area for the next 10 years, with certain exceptions. He must complete 100 hours of community service, give anti-gang presentations to children four times a year, take random drug tests, and refrain from associating with known gang members besides his brother, Quintavis Grier (the rapper known as Unfoonk) and Gunna (Sergio Kitchens), who is signed to YSL and is a longtime Young Thug collaborator. Thug specifically requested the right to maintain contact with Gunna, who was widely accused of snitching when he struck his own plea deal last year. Thug rejected an earlier plea deal today that would have resulted in a more lenient sentence but would have required him to testify that he was a gang a leader and his music encouraged others to commit violence.

Thug provided this statement to the court ahead of sentencing:

I hope that you allow me to go home today and trust in me to do the right thing and never see you again. I promise you, I won’t ever be in this type of situation again. I’m going away, I’ve learned from my mistakes — you know, I come from nothing and I’ve made something. I didn’t take full advantage of it. I’m sorry.

The trial was protracted and chaotic, starting with a postponement due to the stabbing of co-defendant Shannon Stillwell. (Stillwell, known as SB or Shannon Jackson, and Deamonte Kendrick, known as Yak Gotti, will remain on trial.) One of Thug’s lawyers, Nicole Fegan, was also arrested on gang-related charges. One witness — Kenneth Copeland, aka Lil Woody — was arrested on the stand for refusing to testify. Steel was held in contempt for objecting to an illegal private conversation between Judge Ural Glanville and the prosecution, which led to Glanville’s removal from the case. His replacement, Judge Shukura L. Ingram, immediately recused herself because she’s related to a Fulton County courthouse deputy who was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle in contraband to another YSL defendant. In comments to the press, Steel praised Whitaker for her handling of the trial: “She’s not our first judge, but she’s the first time we received justice.”

Chris DeVille Staff

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