Young Thug has pleaded guilty in the long-running criminal case accusing the top rapper of leading a violent Atlanta street gang, a stunning reversal that should end his involvement in the trial.
After days of closed-door negotiations with Fulton County prosecutors, Thug (Jeffery Williams) on Thursday (Oct. 31) refused to take a plea deal that would have seen him sentenced to 15 years of probation, but no prison time. Instead, he opted for a no-deal guilty plea, leaving his fate in the hands of Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.
Thug's guilty plea marks a key turning point in a criminal case that has rocked the music industry. Pitting prosecutors in America's rap capital against one of hip-hop's biggest stars, the YSL case has raised big questions – about the fairness of the criminal justice system. about violent personas in modern hip-hop. and about prosecutors using rap lyrics as evidence.
Standing before a judge in a tense hearing Thursday, Thug pleaded guilty to several charges, including drug and firearms possession, and pleaded no contest to several others, including key racketeering charges alleging he was a criminal gang leader.
Without the negotiated plea deal, prosecutors are proposing a much stiffer sentence of 45 years, with 25 served in prison and 20 years on probation. Whitaker is expected to hand down her sentence later Thursday.
The guilty plea came days after the trial was thrown into disarray by the false testimony of a state witness, sparking talk of a miscarriage of justice. Since then, prosecutors and the defendants have struck a series of deals rather than risk starting over in the trial, which has already spanned 10 months of jury selection and 11 months of testimony to become the longest in state history.
Thug, a leading rapper and producer who helped shape the sound of hip-hop in the 2010s, was arrested in May 2022 along with dozens of others. In a sweeping indictment, prosecutors alleged that his “YSL” — nominally a label that stands for “Young Stoner Life” — was also a violent gang called “Young Slime Life” that had wreaked “havoc” in the Atlanta area for nearly a decade. .
The case, which was based on Georgia's Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), alleged that YSL had committed murders, carjackings, drug trafficking and many other crimes. And prosecutors alleged Thug was “King Slime,” acting as a crime boss amid his rise to fame. “It doesn't matter what your reputation is, what your reputation is,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at the time. “We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Thug has strongly denied the allegations and has long maintained his innocence. On the opening day of the trial, his lawyer argued that despite a tough local upbringing, Thug “doesn't even know most of the people on this indictment” and had no reason to run a criminal organization.
From the beginning, the YSL affair has been beset by delays. Beginning in January 2023, it took an unprecedented 10-month process just to select a jury. After the trial itself began in November 2023, prosecutors waded through a massive witness list that included a staggering 737 names. There was also a prison stabbing of a defendant, as well as a strange episode in a secret meeting with a witness that resulted in the presiding judge being removed from the case.
While the slow trial dragged on, Thug sat in jail for more than two years, repeatedly denied bail for fear he might intimidate witnesses.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/young-thug-pleads-guilty-ysl-rico-case/
