What to Know About the High-Profile Young Thug RICO Case

A high-profile trial involving rapper Young Thug – known as the “YSL RICO Trial” – has begun.

In November 2023, the trial began in Atlanta after a lengthy jury selection process that ended in early November, and the musician (real name Jeffrey Lamar Williams), 32, who faces racketeering and gang conspiracy charges, spent 567 days in prison.

The Fulton County District Attorney alleged that the Grammy winner, who was denied bond in June 2022, shortly after his May 2022 arrest, co-founded a violent criminal street gang and used his music to promote it. Prosecutors claim the top artist’s record label Young Stoner Life Records also stands for Young Slime Life, the name of an Atlanta-based gang, and accuse him of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, among other charges. .

Young thug arrested in RICO, accused of operating a criminal street gang

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Given Young Thug’s fame and the potential for big names in the music industry to testify, and the scope of the case — which has indicted more than two dozen other names, including five also confirmed to stand trial — the case is expected to draw national attention and past months.

Here’s what you need to know about the YSL RICO investigation.

A young robber. Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Who is Young Thug?

Young Thug is an award-winning rapper and pioneer of the melodic trap sound, known for his unique, mumbling delivery and taste for pop production sensibilities. The hip-hop star earned three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (2019 So much funin 2021 punk and a compilation album in 2021 Life of a Young Stoner: The Tongue of a Slave 2). He’s worked with Drake, Future, Travis Scott and more, and has defied genre crossover with collaborations like the hit no. 1 “Havanna,” his collaboration with Camila Cabello and Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” which became the first rap song to win Song of the Year at the 2019 Grammys.

After emerging on the Atlanta scene and signing to Gucci Mane’s 1017 Records in 2013, the musician eventually launched YSL Records (also known as Young Stoner Life Records), an imprint of 300 Entertainment, in 2016.

The hitmaker has also gained a reputation as a fashion icon, often wearing clothing that defies gender stereotypes, such as the dress on the cover of his 2016 mixtape. Jeffery.

Rapper Gunna Charged with Conspiracy to Violate RICO Act After Arrest of Young Thug

A young robber. Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP

What is Young Thug charged with in the YSL RICO trial?

Prosecutors accused the “Go Crazy” rapper of co-founding and involvement in the Atlanta-area Young Slime Life street gang, which has ties to the national Bloods gang, and filed racketeering, drug and weapons charges against him.

He was first indicted in May 2022, along with 27 other names, including rapper Gunna, for violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

A second indictment was filed in August 2022, charging him with six more crimes, The Associated Press writes.

Out of a total of 65 counts against the accused, which span between 2013 and 2022, the contractor is charged with eight. Among the more serious charges, according to The New York Times, is accused of being connected to the killing of Donovan Thomas Jr., a rival gang member who died in a January 2015 drive-by shooting. Prosecutors allege Young Thug rented the vehicle used in the shooting.

What Young Thug and his lawyers say about the YSL RICO trial?

The “Hot” rapper pleaded not guilty and denied all charges. In several court filings, para The New York Times, his lawyers reiterated that YSL is just a label and has no gang ties.

His lawyers also noted that while some of those charged in the original May 2022 indictment may have committed crimes, the hip-hop star was not responsible for or orchestrated their behind-the-scenes actions.

Gunna and Young Thug. Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images

Who are the other defendants in the YSL RICO trial?

Rapper Gunna (real name Sergio Kitchens) was also among those arrested in May 2022 and, like several other defendants, including Young Thug’s brother Quantavious Grier, pleaded guilty in December 2022.

The “Drip Too Hard” artist, 30, shared a letter from prison in which he claims he was “falsely accused” in June 2022 and ultimately accepted an Alford plea, which allows him to remain innocent but acknowledges that his best interest is to plead guilty, according to AP.

Of the 28 original defendants, only five will now be tried, along with Young Thug, due to plea deals and 13 names who are now being tried separately.

Gunna says he’s ‘innocent’ in prison letter: ‘I’ll never stop fighting to clear my name’

Are Young Thug lyrics being used as evidence in the YSL RICO trial?

In a controversial decision, an Atlanta judge ruled Nov. 9 that the lyrics can be used as evidence in the case.

According to The New York Times, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Justice Ural Glanville said in court that prosecutors can use 17 specific verses as evidence, as long as they argue their connection to the defendants’ crimes. The songs under scrutiny include “Eww,” “Just How It Is” and “Mob Ties,” as they relate to the existence of the gang, the defendants’ involvement in the alleged criminal conspiracy and “their state of mind” regarding the alleged crimes. .

Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law restricting the use of lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, and more than 100 artists and music industry executives wrote an open letter saying the practice criminalizes black talent. In the open letter, titled “Art on Trial: Protect Black Art,” they cited Young Thug’s incarceration and wrote that the use of his lyrics in legal proceedings was “an overt act in furtherance of a conspiracy.”

Despite strong legal opposition from the defense and public activism “Protect the Black Arts,” a judge ruled in early November that the state could use at least 17 specific lyrics from the music of Young Thug and other YSL artists to argue the existence of the gang; membership of the accused in the alleged criminal conspiracy; and their state of consciousness regarding the specific crimes they are accused of.

Have any songs already been used in the YSL Rico rehearsal?

As the YSL Rico trial resumed after a recess in early January, the January 11 trial was among the first to have the song played in the courtroom.

According to Atlanta television station 11Alive, the full four and a half minutes of the 2014 song “Lifestyle” by the supergroup Rich Gang, which consists of Young Thug and fellow Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan, has been played in court. (Live footage of the moment later went viral on social media and became a TikTok meme.)

While the prosecution won the right to use the lyrics, defense attorney Brian Steel actually played the song in an attempt to get Judge Glanville to allow her music video to be used as evidence, according to 11Alive.

According to the release, he pushed for the video to be shown because “he had the right to show the jury what Rich Gang is, that this is their music compilation” and because it illustrates the relationship of artist “Floyd Mayweather” with Rich Homie Quan, 34, and Birdman, future that they both star in the visual. He reportedly hoped to prove that he showed people other than Young Thug wearing red, a color associated with the Bloods gang.

Ultimately, Judge Glanville denied a request to have the “Lifestyle” music video used as evidence because Steel suggested it be used during the cross-examination of Trontavious “Tick” Stephens, the YSL co-founder who reached a plea deal in 2022 and claimed that Young Thug was part of Young Slime Life. He said if the name was more relevant to the song, like Rich Homie Quan or Birdman, 54, the witness, it could be “relevant and acceptable,” as reported by 11Alive.

Why did jury selection take so long in the YSL RICO trial?

According to the AP, jury selection began as early as January 2023 with expectations that the trial would begin in early 2023. The process faced several hurdles, including working out the logistics of bringing various defendants who were in different prisons to court each day, bringing contraband into the court building, the arrest of the defense attorney and the deputy in the courtroom, among other things.

Now nine women and three men make up the jury, and it’s unclear how long the case could take.

Why was Young Thug’s racketeering trial put on hold?

On July 2, 2024 Rolling stone reported that the trial had been halted to respond to defense requests to replace Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville.

The paper previously reported that Glanville met with prosecutors and a prosecution witness, but the defendants and defense attorneys were not present. As a result, an attorney for Young Thug and the other defendants filed a motion calling the meeting “inappropriate” and alleging that the judge attempted to elicit testimony from a witness who had already been granted immunity by the court.

According to the Associated Press, another judge is currently deciding how to proceed with Glanville and as a result, jurors have been informed that they will not have to appear in court until the situation is resolved.

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