All You Need To Know About The Ongoing YSL Case
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen clips of Young Thug in court, especially the one where we can see his song, “Lifestyle” being played. While there’s been some sensationalism around this trial, it’s important to stay informed about a trial like this as it may set a precedent with the relationship between lyrical expression and the law. For black people in America that is.
Here’s everything you need to know about the YSL RICO trial:
Young Thug AKA Jefferey Williams has been accused of leading a criminal street gang that committed murder and other different crimes in ATL over the past couple of years.
When the trial started on November 27th, the rapper had spent over 500 days in jail.
The trial took longer than probably expected with so many delays. The jury selection process lasted almost 10 months.
Two weeks into trial, one of the defendants was stabbed in jail which paused the case until January 2nd.
Fulton County District Attorney allege that young thug is the co-founder of a street gang known as Young Slime Life or YSL which is an associated/subset of the Bloods.
The DA claims that Young Thug was the leader of this organization, where he led and oversaw crimes like murder, robbery, drug dealing and more.
Prosecutors claim that Young Thug used his music in lyrics to promote this gang.
Prosecutors assert that thug violated Georgia’s racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act (RICO), drug and weapon charges, and one of the severe allegations links him to a driveway shooting which wounded someone dead.
Young thug has maintained that he is innocent and plead not guilty to all charges.
His legal team’s defense and stance is that YSL records is literally just a record label and has no gang affiliation.
The trial initially had 28 defendants, one of them being the YSl rapper, Gunna aka Sergio Kitchens.
Gunna, similar to several other defendants took plea deals called alford pleas- essentially considered to be “best-interests pleas” where you register a formal admission of guilt in the criminal court while simultaneously expressing your innocence towards those same charges or simper said - maintaining innocence but recognizing its in the best interest to plead guilty.
Currently, only 6 defendants remain from the original 28.
An Atlanta judge controversially ruled that the prosecution could use young thug’s songs as evidence in court.
Young Thug’s racketeering conspiracy charge and two gang charges each carry a penalty of five to 20 years in prison. The other five charges also carry potential prison time.
