Trial of juvenile delinquents on hold amid attempt to oust judge

The judge overseeing racketeering and gang prosecutions against Young Thug and others has put the long-running trial on hold until another judge rules on requests by several defendants to drop the case.

Attorneys for the rapper and several other defendants had filed motions to recuse Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville after he held a meeting with prosecutors and a prosecution witness in which defendants and defense attorneys were not present. They said the meeting was “inappropriate” and said the judge and prosecutors tried to pressure the witness, who had been granted immunity, to testify.

Jurors, already in recess until July 8, will be notified that they will not be called until the matter is resolved, Glanville said.

This is the latest delay in a trial that has dragged on for more than a year, in part because of several problems. Jury selection in the case began in January 2023 and lasted nearly 10 months. Opening statements were made in November and the prosecution has since been presenting its case, calling dozens of witnesses.

Young Thug, a Grammy winner whose real name is Jeffery Williams, was indicted two years ago in a sprawling indictment charging him and more than two dozen other people with conspiracy to violate Georgia's anti-extortion law. He is also charged with gang, drug and weapons crimes and is on trial with five of the others charged with him.

Glanville last month held Young Thug's lawyer, Brian Steel, in contempt for refusing to tell the judge how he found out about the out-of-court meeting. Steel was ordered to serve 10 consecutive weekends in jail, but the Georgia Supreme Court put that sentence on hold pending an appeal.

During a hearing Monday without a jury, Glanville said he would release the minutes of a meeting he had with prosecutors and state witness Kenneth Copeland and Copeland's attorney. He also said he would let another judge decide whether he should be removed from the case.

Glanville told the attorneys he would enter the order sending the disqualification matter to another judge, adding, “We'll talk in a little while, depending on how it's decided, okay?”

“Your honor, do we have a timeline for when the motion to withdraw can be heard?” asked prosecutor Simone Hylton.

“I don't know,” Glanville replied, saying the clerk of court should assign that to another judge. “I have nothing to do with it.”

Hylton asked if the matter could be expedited, citing concerns about retaining jurors “indefinitely.”

Glanville said he understood that concern and hoped it would be addressed quickly.

Glanville maintained that there was nothing inappropriate about the meeting. He said prosecutors asked him to talk about Cowland's immunity deal.

Young Thug has had tremendous success since he started rapping as a teenager and serves as the CEO of his own record label, Young Stoner Life, or YSL. Artists on his record label are considered part of the “Slime Family” and a compilation album, “Slime Language 2”, went to No. 1 on the charts in April 2021.

But prosecutors say YSL also represents Young Slime Life, which they allege is a violent Atlanta-based street gang affiliated with the national Bloods gang and founded by Young Thug and two others in 2012. Prosecutors say the people named in the indictment are responsible for violent crimes — including murders, shootings and carjackings — to raise money for the gang, its reputation and the expansion of its power and territory.