Rapper Young Thug Released From Jail After Convicted In Lengthy Trial – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

(CNN) – Young Thug has been sentenced to death as part of a large case that originally included dozens of defendants.

The rapper, whose name is Jeffery Williams, was released Thursday night after more than 900 days in custody, according to prison records. He will have to serve 15 years of probation as part of the no-deal plea deal.

Williams entered into a no-negotiated plea deal on Thursday to several charges, including possession of firearms and participating in criminal street gang activity, while he pleaded no contest to racketeering and operating a criminal street gangs. The case marked the longest in Georgia’s history.

In 2022, Williams was indicted along with twenty others under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO.

Prosecutors accused the rapper of running a criminal street gang that committed murder and a string of violent crimes in Atlanta dating back a decade. Williams denied being the head of a criminal enterprise.

They claimed that YSL — the acronym for the artist’s label, Young Stoner Life Records — also stood for Young Slime Life, an Atlanta-based criminal street gang affiliated with the national Bloods gang.

Prosecutors sought to prove that Young Thug was the self-proclaimed leader of the YSL gang and was involved in crimes committed by its members, including the 2015 fatal shooting of an alleged rival gang member. Young Thug allegedly rented a car that was used by members of YSL in the murder, prosecutors said.

Several other defendants charged in the case, including rapper Gunna, have accepted plea deals or had their cases separated from the trial. Young Thug had been one of six co-defendants on trial. The rapper has been in jail since his May 2022 arrest.

Williams pleaded guilty to six charges – one count of participating in criminal street gang activity, three counts of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count possession of a machine gun.

The two no contest pleas meant he could still be sentenced on the charges as if he had entered a guilty plea, even though he pleaded no contest to the charges.

When asked by the judge if he wanted to comment Thursday, Williams said he took full responsibility and apologized to his family before asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to let him go home.

“I’m a smart guy. I’m a good guy. I really have a good heart,” Williams told the judge as he stood before her. “I get into a lot of stuff because I was just being nice or cool, you know, and I understand that you can’t be like that when you get to a certain height because it could end (badly).”

Williams added: “I learned from my mistakes.” He mentioned some of the free concerts he hosted and the money he gave to single parents and related charities.

Before imposing a sentence, Whitaker told Williams, “I want you to try to be more about the solution and less about the problem.”

The case drew fierce criticism over prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics as evidence of the gang’s actions and existence — a move some said was a racist violation of free speech and artistic expression, and the latest example of targeted black art.

Williams told the judge Thursday that he understood how rap lyrics “can be twisted” and said he understood the impact they can have on people’s minds.

“I promise you I’m changing this 100 percent,” Williams said.

Whitaker ordered Williams to stay away from the Atlanta metropolitan area beginning two days after his release from custody for the first 10 years of his release. Williams is allowed to return to the Atlanta area for weddings, funerals and graduations, but must leave within 48 hours of those events, according to Whitaker.

He must return to the area four times a year for each year of probation to host an anti-gang and anti-gun show, the judge said.

Williams must also perform 100 hours of community service during each of his years of probation and is prohibited from knowingly having any contact with members or associates of any criminal street gang, according to Whitaker.

Williams would have faced a maximum of 120 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

The case dragged on for months, including several motions to mistrial, the most recent being last week. The jury selection process alone took almost a year.

Three co-defendants in the YSL racketeering trial accepted plea deals this week from the Fulton County District Attorney.

Rodalius Ryan, known as “Lil Rod,” and co-defendant Marquavious Huey, known as “Qua,” pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of violating the state’s RICO Act.

As part of the terms, Ryan accepted a 10-year prison sentence, which was commuted to time served. Other charges in the indictment, including armed robbery, were dropped as part of the deal.

Ryan is currently serving a life sentence for a separate murder case. The prison time will run concurrently, Whitaker said.

As part of his plea agreement, Huey pleaded guilty to multiple counts, including armed robbery. He was sentenced to a total of 25 years, with nine years in custody, nine years on probation and five years suspended as part of the agreement.

Quamarvious Nichols, also known as “Qua,” accepted a plea deal Tuesday to Count 1 of the indictment, conspiracy to violate the RICO Act. He received a negotiated sentence of 20 years, with seven years to be served in custody and the remaining on probation. Instead, several charges, including murder, were dismissed.

None of the three people who pleaded guilty will be required to testify against the remaining co-defendants, including the main target of the case, Young Thug.