ATLANTA (AP) — Rapper Young Thug is a free man after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges.
About 2 1/2 years after he was arrested on the charges in a sprawling gang and racketeering indictment, Young Thug was released from custody Thursday evening. It was a remarkable development in a trial that's dragged on and been plagued by problems.
Jury selection at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta began in January 2023 and took nearly 10 months. Prosecutors had called dozens of witnesses since opening statements last November in the trial of six defendants.
Here are some things to know about the plea:
Who is Young Thug?
An Atlanta-based artist whose given name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, Young Thug is known for his eccentric style, mumble rap and squeaky, high-pitched vocals. He shot to popularity with breakout hits including “Stoner” and “Best Friend” and co-wrote the hit “This is America” with Childish Gambino, which became the first hip-hop track to win the song of the year Grammy in 2019.
Young Thug has collaborated with other top artists including Drake, Chris Brown, T.I. and Travis Scott. Elton John called working with Young Thug an “amazing moment” after recording the song “Always Love You” featuring Nicki Minaj and Gunna.
He broke with the hyper-masculine norms of the hip-hop scene, wearing a dress on the cover of his 2016 mixtape “Jeffery” and saying there’s no such thing as gender as part of a Calvin Klein campaign.
Young Thug, 33, grew up in a suburban Atlanta housing project that was marred by crime and violence.
What was he accused of?
He was originally indicted and arrested May, 9, 2022, and more charges were added in a subsequent indictment that August. The second indictment accused Young Thug and 27 others of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The rapper was also accused of participation in criminal street gang activity, as well as drug and gun charges.
Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two other people co-founded a violent criminal street gang in 2012 called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which they say is associated with the national Bloods gang. The indictment says Young Thug “made YSL a well-known name by referring to it in his songs and on social media.”
Prosecutors painted him as a gang leader known as King Slime, someone who calls the shots and directs others to engage in criminal activity.
How did the plea come about?
Prosecutors had been negotiating with Young Thug's lawyers to try to reach a deal that would end his participation in the long-running trial. But those efforts stalled when the two sides disagreed on conditions.
Speaking to reporters after the sentencing, Young Thug attorney Brian Steel declined to discuss the negotiations. But he said prosecutors were pushing for “outrageous” conditions: “They would let him out of custody, but they would have a tether around him so tight that it's unconscionable.”
Instead, the rapper went forward with a potentially risky non-negotiated or “blind” plea, meaning he was entering pleas without having a deal in place with prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty to one gang charge, three drug charges and two gun charges. He also entered a no contest plea to another gang charge and a racketeering conspiracy charge, meaning that he decided not to contest those charges but could be punished as if he had pleaded guilty.
Will he spend time in prison?
No — as long as he abides by the conditions of his sentence.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker gave him a total sentence of 40 years. The first five years were to be served in prison, but that was commuted to time served. Then he has 15 years on probation. Finally, a “backloaded” 20 years in prison will be commuted to time served if he complies with all of the conditions of his probation. If he doesn't complete his probation successfully, he will have to serve those 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors wanted Young Thug sentenced to 45 years, with 25 years in prison and the remaining 20 on probation. The charges against him carried a potential maximum sentence of 120 years in prison, prosecutor Adriane Love said.
Steel had asked the judge for a 45-year sentence with five in prison commuted to time served and 40 years on probation.
What did he say to the judge before sentencing?
He apologized to his family, his managers, the courtroom deputies and “really everybody that got something to do with this situation” for the time his case ate up.
“I hope that you allow me to go home today and just trust in me to just do the right thing,” he told the judge, promising her that he'd never be in this type of situation again.
“I’ve learned from my mistakes, you know. I come from nothing and I’ve made something and I didn’t take full advantage of it. I’m sorry,” he said.
He told her he understands his impact on people and said he also has tried to give back, putting millions of dollars back into his community.
What are the conditions of his sentence?
He must stay away from the metro Atlanta area — as defined by the census — for the first 10 years of his probation, except for weddings, funerals, graduations or a serious illness of an immediate family member. He can arrive 24 hours before the event and must leave within 48 hours after.
But he must also return to the Atlanta area four times during each year of his probation to make an anti-gang, anti-gun violence presentation at a grade school, middle school or high school, or at an organization like the Boys & Girls Club. Those visits can count toward the 100 hours of community service he must complete during each year of his probation.
He also cannot knowingly have contact with any member of a criminal street gang. The judge said that includes other people named in the indictment, with the exception of his brother and the rapper Gunna, with whom he has contractual obligations.
He cannot participate in criminal street gang activity or promote any gang, including through hand signs.
He also can't contact the victims in the case or their families, may not own a gun, must not use drugs other than those prescribed to him, must submit to random drug tests, and must allow searches of himself and his property and electronics.
What do prosecutors say about the sentence?
“The convictions in this case represent accountability for admitted members of YSL, a violent street gang,” the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement Friday. The statement says prosecutors are committed to continuing to pursue charges against the remaining defendants.
What happened during the trial?
The trial has been long and was marred by problems.
Before the trial began, prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over whether the defendants' rap lyrics should be allowed as evidence. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, the original judge, allowed prosecutors to introduce certain lyrics as long as they could show that the lyrics were related to crimes that Young Thug and others were accused of committing. Defense attorneys had asked the judge to exclude them, arguing the lyrics are constitutionally protected speech and would be unfairly prejudicial.
Just weeks after prosecutors began presenting evidence, the trial had to be paused because one of Young Thug's codefendants was stabbed in jail.
In June, Steel told Glanville in open court that he had learned of a meeting in the judge’s chambers between the judge, prosecutors and a prosecution witness. When Steel refused to tell him how he'd learned of the meeting, Glanville found him in contempt and ordered him to spend 10 weekends in jail. That sentence was paused while Steel appealed, and the Georgia Supreme Court recently overturned the contempt ruling.
Glanville was removed from the case the following month after defense attorneys sought his recusal, citing the meeting the judge held with prosecutors and a state witness. That caused another delay until Whitaker was appointed to take over.
Whitaker in September grew frustrated with Love, the lead prosecutor, saying the case was being presented in a “haphazard” way and that she couldn’t tell “whether all of this is purposeful or this is just really poor lawyering.”
What about the other defendants?
Three co-defendants had already pleaded guilty this week after reaching deals with prosecutors. That leaves just two other co-defendants on trial.
Nine people charged in the indictment, including Gunna, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Twelve others are to be tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.
Kate Brumback, The Associated Press