Young Thug has moved to close the chapter of his YSL RICO trial sooner rather than later by accepting a plea deal. On Thursday (Oct. 31), his legal representation announced his intent to accept a deal from the prosecution
The development comes amid the rapper’s headline-worthy trial, which has also earned the title of the longest trial in Georgia history. He has been behind bars since May 2022, but jury selection didn’t begin until January 2023. Open statements didn’t kick off until later that year, in November.
He pled guilty on Thursday to six counts of gang-related activity and pled no contest to one count of leading a criminal street gang and one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO act. The state recommends a 45-year sentence with 25 years in custody and 20 on probation. Ultimately, the final sentencing decision is up to the judge.
Thugger rejected a previous offer from the prosecution that involved 15 years probation but with special conditions such as requiring Jeffrey to “take ownership and responsibility for being the leader of YSL.” His lawyer, Brian Steel, said the trial was holding Young Thug “hostage,” and that’s why he opted for the plea deal. Additionally, Steel said Atlanta authorities had “tunnel vision” for his client.
Initially, prosecutors named 27 co-defendants. The trial against Young Thug began with jury selection in January 2023, and by the time opening statements started that November, after months of delays caused by some defendants taking plea deals and others choosing to be tried separately, he was one of six co-defendants.
Whitaker this week approved plea deals for three of them: Quamarvious Nichols, 29; Marquavius Huey, 28; and Rodalius Ryan, 18.
The men faced multiple counts of various racketeering- and gang-related charges, each potentially carrying prison sentences of five to 20 years. With all of them agreeing to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy — with Huey also pleading guilty to other reduced charges — they accepted more lenient prison sentences with probation and time served. Ryan, however, will remain in prison on a life sentence for a 2019 murder, but his 10-year prison sentence in the RICO case has been commuted to time served.
The trial is expected to resume against the two remaining co-defendants, Deamonte Kendrick and Shannon Stillwell.
Given Young Thug's plea deal, an end to his part in the prosecution's sprawling case comes after nearly two years of a winding livestreamed trial. The original judge was recused from the trial in July after misconduct allegations by the defense, and heated courtroom exchanges between various parties and a multitude of bizarre moments, including a deputy allegedly smuggling contraband to a defendant and someone hacking the court's Zoom to yell "Free Thug!" have punctuated the sluggish proceedings.
The judge had previously said the trial could conceivably stretch into next year, as the prosecution was still not done presenting its case.
What led to plea deals
The latest, and most substantial twist, came as the result of a prosecutorial misstep during testimony last week.
As state witness Wunnie Lee, a rapper known as Slimelife Shawty, reviewed social media posts in front of the jury, he was inadvertently given an unredacted version of a post that referred to the hashtag #freequa, which may apply to nicknames for Nichols or Huey. The post was redacted for the jury.
But by Lee referring to Qua, prosecutors allowed the jury to presume that the co-defendants were in jail, a detail that is not supposed to be shared because it is considered prejudicial.
"We're not going to be able to unring this bell, your honor," Nicole Westmoreland, a lawyer for Nichols, said in asking for a mistrial.
Whitaker had suggested she would consider a mistrial motion. In the midst, prosecutors and defense lawyers spent days hammering out plea deals.
Young Thug first gained mainstream success with his 2014 drug anthem "Stoner." He founded his own music label, YSL Records, in 2016, and has racked up three No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart, working with the likes of Travis Scott, Post Malone, Meek Mill and Drake. In 2019, he won a Grammy Award for song of the year for co-writing Childish Gambino's "This Is America."
Comments