Young Thug

On Monday, June 10, Young Thug’s ongoing YSL Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) trial was interrupted in bizarre fashion when Brian Steel, Young Thug’s attorney, was taken into custody after being held in contempt of court.

According to Billboard, Steel “will not have to report to jail this weekend on criminal contempt charges after the Georgia Supreme Court granted his emergency motion for bond,” a ruling from Wednesday, June 12.

“The decision means that Steel’s jail sentence — 20 days, to be served over ten consecutive weekends starting this Friday — will be put on pause until the Supreme Court rules on his appeal of the contempt order, which his attorneys have argued was an abuse of the judge’s authority,” Billboard relayed.

FOX 5 Atlanta initially reported that Steel’s charge is due to his approaching the bench following a lunch recess and “revealing his knowledge of an ex parte conversation that took place before court” between the Judge Ural Glanville, prosecutors, and witness Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution additionally noted, “It could upend the entire trial, which has already lasted 18 months —making it the longest trial in Georgia’s history.”

See clips of the moment unfolding below.

After being removed from the courtroom and found in contempt of court by Judge Ural Glanville yesterday, Young Thug’s defense attorney Brian Steel has been sentenced to 20 days in jail. According to local news, Steel was found in contempt of court after confronting the judge about a secret meeting with another defendant and requesting a transcript of the meeting’s minutes.

When Glanville instead questioned Steel how he found out about the meeting, Steel refused to answer, prompting Glanville to have him taken into custody. He ordered Steel to be held at Fulton County Jail for 20 days. In order to continue working on the case, they’ll all be served on weekends. Steel promised to appeal the contempt decision, but asked that he be allowed to spend his sentence with his client Thug, so that they could continue to work on the case — a request the judge granted.

News of the finding drew criticism both online and at the courtroom itself, with a number of lawyers protesting and demanding a mistrial. Steel’s wife and law partner, Colette Resnick Steel, filed the appeal along with a motion for bond.

Young Thug is on trial for alleged violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The state alleges that Thug is the leader of a criminal organization, YSL, operating under the guise of a record label. Prosecutors say YSL is responsible for a crime wave across Atlanta, including murder, assault, robbery, and drug dealing.

So far, to call the ongoing racketeering trial against Young Thug in Atlanta “a farce” would be doing a disservice to the theatrical form. It’s been nothing short of a circus, but apparently, the ringleader, Judge Ural Glanville, had yet another trick up his sleeve as the clown-show degenerated into a slog.

According to multiple sources via the trial’s livestream, Young Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, was taken into custody today after being held in contempt of court by Glanville after he confronted the judge about an in-chambers ex-parte meeting (meaning all concerned parties were not presen) between Glanville and one of the other defendants, Kenneth “Woody” Copeland, after Woody was previously reticent to cooperate. After the meeting, he agreed to testify.

After refusing to tell Glanville how he learned of said meeting, and stopping just short of accusing him of witness coersion, Steel was removed from the courtroom. His second, Keith Adams, asked for a mistrial, noting that Thug — whose real name is Jeffery Williams — does not want to continue the trial without Steel.

Contempt of Court refers to the willful disobedience of a court order or some other conduct that disrupts or disrespects a court proceeding. A judge may impose sanctions such as fines or jail time on a person found in contempt.