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Young Thug accepts plea in RICO case, sentence reduced to probation

Posted on by Nargang
Young Thug accepts plea in RICO case, sentence reduced to probation

Young Thug’s trial is over, and the Atlanta rap legend is coming home. Thug, real name Jeffery Williams, accepted a plea deal in his RICO case, allowing him to be free on supervision for the next 15 years, New York Times reports.

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

If Thug does not complete his probation, he faces a possible 20 years in prison. He is also banned from the Atlanta metropolitan area for the next 10 years, with certain exceptions. He must complete 100 hours of community service, make anti-gang presentations to children four times a year, undergo random drug tests and refrain from associating with known gang members other than his brother his, 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 asked for the right to maintain contact with Gunna, which was broad accused of snitching when he took his own plea deal last year. Thug today rejected an earlier plea deal that would have resulted in a lighter sentence but would have required him to testify that he was a gang leader and that his music encouraged others to commit violence.

Thug offered this statement to the court before sentencing:

I hope you’ll let me go home today and trust me to do the right thing and never see you again. I promise I will never be in that situation again. I’m leaving, 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, beginning with an adjournment 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 charges. One witness – Kenneth Copeland, aka Lil Woody – was arrested on the stand for refusing to testify. The steel was held in contempt for objecting to an illegal private conversation between Judge Ural Glanville and the prosecution, which led to removal from the case. His replacement, Judge Shukura L. Ingram, immediately it was refused because she is related to a Fulton County courthouse deputy who was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle another YSL defendant. In comments to the media, Steel praised Whitaker for her handling of the trial: “It’s not our first judge, but it’s our first time getting justice.”