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Young Thug’s Latest Attempt To Have RICO Case Thrown Out Is Denied

November 20, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Judge Ural Glanville in Georgia has denied Young Thug’s motion to have his RICO case thrown out. The rapper’s attorney, Brian Steel, argued that the grand jury failed to properly accuse Young Thug of knowingly committing the allegations in the original indictment.

“Mr. Williams is innocent of all charges in the above-referenced indictment,” Steel wrote in the motion. “The grand jury wrongfully re-indicted Mr. Williams in the above-reference case on or about October 5, 2022 in count one – conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act; count 56 and 57 – participation in criminal street gang activity; counts 58, 59 and 60 – violation of Georgia Controlled Substances Act; count 61 – possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; and count 62 – possession of a machine gun.”

Young Thug Performs At Rolling Loud

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – OCTOBER 22: Rapper Young Thug performs during the Rolling. Loud Festival at Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 22, 2017 in Mountain View, California. (Photo by C Flanigan/Getty Images)

Glanville disagreed with Steel’s argument, instead suggesting that the language used was sufficient. “I find that the state’s indictment tracks the language of the statute and is sufficient therein for counts one, 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60, 61 and 62 as it pertains to the state versus Mr. Jeffery Williams,” the judge said. “For those reasons, the court is going to deny the defendant’s plea and bar motion to dismiss general demurrer.”

In the end, Glanville noted that Thug could still appeal his initial ruling, but that it “won’t stop the trial of this matter.” The decision comes as opening statements are scheduled to begin on November 27. While Thug waits behind bars, his partner, Mariah The Scientist, recently revealed that the two intend to get married when he’s a free man. During a recent interview, she added that she thinks about what life will be like once Thug gets out “all day long.” “I feel like being imaginative can help every human being on earth not lose your mind. It is like a little slight state of delusion,” she said. Be on the lookout for further updates on Young Thug’s case on HotNewHipHop.

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Young Thug’s RICO Case: Prosecutors Have Surprisingly Long List Of Witnesses

November 16, 2023 by newhiphopnews

The long-awaited YSL RICO trial is scheduled to begin on November 27, and so far, it looks like prosecutors plan to call on quite a few witnesses. Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel appeared in court today (November 16), requesting that Judge Ural Glanville exclude more than 300 of them at the upcoming trial. Prosecutors then confirmed that there are a whopping 737 of them in total.

Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love defended the long list of potential witnesses. She claimed that they’re necessary in depicting the “pattern” of alleged racketeering. “It would be different if it were just one murder or just one aggravated assault or just one burglary on the indictment, your honor,” she explained. “But there is—there are lists of acts that we seek to show, to introduce as evidence to show the pattern of racketeering activity that they conspired to commit.”

Prosecutors Have 737 Witnesses

Hip-hop artist Young Thug arrives at a release party for his new album “PUNK” at Delilah on October 12, 2021 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)

The news also follows the judge’s decision to allow lyrics to be used against members of YSL in court. Steel pushed for them not to be permitted to no avail. “Your honor, someone can look at that indictment and say one thing’s for sure: that’s not fantasy,” prosecutor Mike Carlson said in court. “People are dead and murdered and a gang exists.” Soon after the judge made his decision, prosecutors called attention to lyrics from Young Thug’s Juice WRLD collab, “Bad Boy.” They accused him of bragging about shooting at YFN Lucci’s mother in the track. “I shot at his mommy, now he no longer mention me,” the lyrics read.

While it’s been speculated that the lyrics reference YFN Lucci, there hasn’t been any official confirmation. Young Thug has remained behind bars since May of 2022. He is also now one of only six remaining defendants awaiting trial. What do you think of prosecutors’ long list of witnesses in Young Thug’s RICO case? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.

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Young Thug Asks Judge To Suppress Involuntary Interrogation In RICO Case

October 1, 2022 by newhiphopnews

As the YSL RICO trial nears closer, it seems Young Thug and his attorney Brian Steel are getting their affairs in order in hopes of getting the rapper his freedom back.

Though he was denied bond and is due to remain behind bars until January of 2023, the “Day Before” artist is said to be in good spirits, even somehow managing to show love to his rumoured girlfriend Mariah The Scientist and the late PnB Rock on his Twitter feed.

According to AllHipHop, the latest update from Thugger’s case reveals that he’s filed a motion requesting that the overseeing judge rule to suppress some statements he made while in police custody during an involuntary interrogation.

The Atlanta native’s lawyer has issued claims that two law enforcement officers interrogated his client in the Dekalb County Jail despite him never having waived his Miranda rights. According to Steel, Cobb County Investigator David Raissi and ATF Special Agent T. Cunningham placed the rapper in an interrogation room without his legal counsel’s permission, knowledge, or consent.

“All of [Young Thug’s] statements must be suppressed from the trial in the above-referenced case, and all witnesses must be instructed not to utter the fact that [Young Thug] made any statements which were not voluntarily made, were made in violation of his Constitutional right to counsel and made in violation of Miranda warning,” the filing declares.

In this handout photo provided by the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office, rapper Jeffery Lamar Williams, aka Young Thug, is seen in a police booking photo after turning himself in for outstanding drug and firearm charges September 13, 2018 in Decatur, Georgia. The charges stem from a traffic stop last year where police allegedly found drugs and a gun. (Photo by DeKalb County Sheriffs Office via Getty Images)

“Additionally, no mention can be made that [Young Thug] was given the opportunity to speak with law enforcement since this is post-arrest.”

At the same time, it’s been noted that the 31-year-old has requested that the judge return computers and phones that were seized from his Sandy Springs, Georgia home in July of 2015 when he was handed felony charges.

Thug allegedly threatened a security guard at a mall prior to the incident, leading authorities to raid his house and uncover an assortment of drugs and guns. Ultimately, though, the charges were tossed when a trial ruled that the search was unconstitutional.

The devices taken were suppressed by written order in April of 2017 and intended to be returned to the YSL leader, but he never saw them again. They instead ended up being sent to a company called Cellebrite by Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Sprinkel to be searched.

Steel has pointed out that there was no valid search warrant allowing this after the 2017 ruling, and that searching them in May of that year was a violation of Thugger’s “possessory interests in his lawfully obtained property that the prosecution had absolutely no legal right to possess.”

Ultimately, the end goal of this filing is for Judge Ural Glanville to suppress any statement Thug made during the aforementioned interrogation, as well as any evidence that may have come from his phones, hard drives, and computers.

See the legal documents for yourself here, and tap back in with HNHH later for more hip-hop news updates.

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