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Yak Gotti Was Found Not Guilty On All Charges A Day After Being Stabbed In Jail

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A day after being stabbed in jail, Yak Gotti has been found not guilty on all charges against him in the longest trial in Georgia history. According to WSB-TV, Yak Gotti and Shannon Stilwell were the last two alleged members of YSL on trial for various charges relating to racketeering and gang activity; while the jury deemed the rapper was not guilty of said activity, Stilwell was only found guilty of one charge, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He’ll be charged at a future date.

For the most part, though, this brings an end to the two-year ordeal of the members of YSL, which prosecutors alleged is/was a gang operating under the guise of a record label. Both prosecutors and the defenses issued their closing arguments last Tuesday, and the verdicts were issued after only two days of deliberations. The delay in delivering the verdicts was attributed to a break for the Thanksgiving weekend.

The 56-page indictment was issued against 28 members of YSL, including Yak Gotti, Young Thug, and Gunna, in May 2022, leading to a year’s worth of plea negotiations. Gunna, Unfoonk, and others agreed to plea guilty to racketeering in exchange for time served, with Thug biding his time through the controversial trial. He accepted a plea deal of his own in October, requesting an exemption of his probation terms for his protégé and brother.

Young Thug Requested A Probation Exemption To Allow Contact With Gunna

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All those folks who spent the past couple of years calling Gunna a snitch and saying he sold out Young Thug will need to clean some egg off their faces. As part of his plea deal to secure his release, Thugger specifically asked Judge Paige Reece Whitaker to make an exception to his probation stipulation barring contact with his racketeering co-defendants: Gunna. While noting that Gunna is signed to Thug’s label, YSL Records, Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, also reminded the court that the two frequently perform together. Thug also requested an exception for his brother Quantavious Grier, also known as Unfoonk, who is serving a nine-year sentence after accepting a plea deal of his own.

It was the plea deal accepted by Gunna that prompted suspicions that the younger rapper had “turned rat” on his mentor, with former collaborators like Lil Baby and Lil Durk deeming Gunna a snitch. Gunna addressed such accusations on his 2023 album A Gift & A Curse, while Young Thug’s father stood up for his son’s protégé, asserting that nothing he could say would harm Thug’s defense anyway. Thug’s request suggests that the two rappers are still on good terms — meaning that a follow-up to “Surf,” “Ski,” and “Pushin P” could be on the way soon.

Young Thug Has Pled Guilty To Racketeering In Exchange For His Release

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Young Thug will at last be released from custody after accepting a plea deal in his racketeering case. According to Billboard, Thug agreed to plead “no contest” to racketeering and pled guilty to possession of drugs and firearms, and was sentenced to 15 years probation. He will serve no prison time; he was jailed for over two years as his trial dragged on, becoming the longest in Georgia state history.

Thug opted for a non-negotiated guilty plea after several days of closed-door negotiations with prosecutors. This allowed Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to determine the sentence herself after she found herself losing patience with the prosecutions’ antics. The trial, which didn’t even start in earnest until earlier this year, would have called nearly a hundred witnesses, and with just the first handful necessitating days of delays, stalled testimonies, secret ex parte meetings, a criminal contempt charge against the defense (since rescinded), and not just one, but two judges’ recusals, it’s probably fair to say that all parties involved were ready to get this thing over with.

The trial had already drawn heavy backlash for its application of Georgia’s state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and use of lyrics as evidence, which some observers criticized for racist motivations. Meanwhile, prosecutors wanted Thug sentenced to 25 years in prison, with another 20 on probation, accusing him of leading a criminal organization responsible for a wave of violent crime in the Atlanta area. The District Attorney’s office alleged that Thug’s record label, Young Stoner Life (YSL), was secretly a front for a street gang, Young Slime Life, with a list of violations including murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, and distribution of drugs.

Several other co-defendants, including YSL rapper Yak Gotti, declined the plea deal, however; they will continue to stand trial for crimes including the alleged 2015 murder of a supposed rival gang leader, Donovan Thomas.

Young Thug’s Attorney Brian Steel Is Off The Hook For Criminal Contempt Of Court

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Georgia’s Supreme Court has reversed the criminal contempt of court ruling against Brian Steel, Young Thug’s defense attorney. According to Billboard, after reviewing the June ruling by Judge Ural Glanville, the Supreme Court ruled that Glanville should have recused himself and let another judge determine whether Steel was actually in contempt.

Glanville ordered Steel to 20 days in jail after the attorney refused to disclose how he found out about a secret meeting between the judge and prosecutors. The move sparked an immediate appeal and an outcry from lawyers across the internet once the news broke. Widespread calls for Glanville’s removal from the case were eventually granted, and the case has since proceeded with a new judge, who was none too impressed with the state’s handling of evidence and testimony.

Steel had protested Glanville’s “ex parte” meeting with prosecutors and witness Kenneth Copeland, asking for transcripts of the meeting during the June session. The judge instead demanded to know how Steel came by the information, and after Steel refused, Glanville sentenced him to 20 days in jail to be served on 10 consecutive weekends. Steel accepted the terms asking to be held with his client Thug so they could work on the case. Steele’s appeal put a stay on the sentence, and now that the Supreme Court has reversed Glanville’s ruling, he’s officially off the hook.

The trial has become the longest in Georgia state history. Young Thug is charged with racketeering, with prosecutors accusing him of being the head of a criminal organization disguised as a record label.

Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial: An Update On Everything That’s Happened So Far In The Trial (Update For October 2024)

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The racketeering trial against Young Thug has slogged into its 140th day, and while not much of note has happened for the past 9 months since the last update, in the past month or so, there have been enough updates to fill a new primer. So, here’s everything that’s happened so far in the trial.

What Is Young Thug Charged With In The YSL RICO Trial?

Young Thug is accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The state argues that Young Stoner Life, Thug’s label, is actually a cover for Young Slime Life, a violent street gang responsible for assault, dealing drugs, and murder in the Atlanta area. Thug was also charged with possession of illegal firearms and possession of drugs with intent to distribute after a raid on his home.

What Are The Updates In Young Thug’s YSL RICO Trial?

In June, Young Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, was charged with criminal contempt of court and taken into custody after refusing to tell Judge Ural Glanville how he found out about a meeting between the judge and the prosecution that took place without the defense present.

The resulting kerfuffle led to a number of attorneys in Georgia banding together to petition for a mistrial while helping Steel prepare his appeal. The uproar prompted a recusal hearing on July 1, resulting in Glanville being removed from the trial. His immediate replacement, Shukura Ingram, also recused herself, citing a situation in which her court deputy was discovered to have had an inappropriate relationship with one of the defendants in the case. She was replaced by Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.

This turned out to be a setback for the prosecution, as on September 30, Whitaker criticized Chief Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love for her handling of the case so far. Whitaker chastised the prosecutor for “hiding the ball” and “throwing this case together as you try it.” While Whitaker did not grant a mistrial — the latest round of motions for mistrial in the longest trial in Georgia history — it’s clear that even the court itself is beginning to lose patience with the case.

That’s where things stand as of this writing. The trial is still expected to continue into 2025, with more than 100 witnesses yet to testify.

Young Thug’s Mistrial Motion Was Denied Even After The Judge Criticized The Prosecution’s Case

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Yesterday (September 30), the Young Thug racketeering trial featured yet another explosive twist after the judge presiding over the proceedings lit into the prosecutors for presenting such a sloppy case. However, despite this, the defense’s request for a mistrial has been denied yet again, as the trial enters its 139th day.

Judge Paige Reese Whitaker appeared to be fed up with Chief Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love’s behavior for the past month, saying, “It is baffling to me that somebody with the number of years of experience that you have, time after time after time, continues to seemingly and purposefully hide the ball to the extent you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can.

“I really don’t want to believe that it is purposeful, but honestly, after a certain number of times, you start to wonder how can it be anything but that,” she continued. “Unless it is just that you are so unorganized that you are throwing this case together as you try it.”

Judge Whitaker was assigned to the trial after its previous judge, Ural Glanville, was removed in the wake of controversy surrounding his declaring Young Thug’s defense attorney, Brian Steel, in criminal contempt of court.

The Young Thug Trial Judge Suggested The Prosecution Is ‘Throwing The Case Together’ As She Considered Mistrial

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The judge in the ongoing racketeering trial against Young Thug appears to have reached the end of her patience with the prosecution. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker upbraided Chief Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love for the presentation of the State of Georgia’s case during court today, just ahead of considering a mistrial motion filed by the defense.

“I don’t want to malign the prosecutor standing in front of me right now, so I’m not going to say the possible things it could be,” Whitaker said. “It is baffling to me that somebody with the number of years of experience that you have, time after time after time, continues to seemingly and purposefully hide the ball to the extent you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can. I really don’t want to believe that it is purposeful, but honestly, after a certain number of times, you start to wonder how can it be anything but that. Unless it is just that you are so unorganized that you are throwing this case together as you try it.”

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the trial has become the longest in Georgia state history as a result of numerous delays, many the direct result of the DA’s office’s presentation of its case, as well as issues with its previous judge, who was removed and replaced by Whitaker earlier this summer. The trial, which was to have begun in 2021, still has over 100 witnesses to get through, and if not declared a mistrial, is expected to continue into next year.

Young Thug is accused of one count of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, possession of a firearm while committing a felony; possession of a machine gun; two counts of participating in criminal street activity; and three counts of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. The DA’s office says Thug was the co-founder and leader of a criminal street gang, Young Slime Life — which not so coincidentally shares initials with his label, Young Stoner Life. The State believes that the label is a cover for and funds the gang’s activities, which include a string of violent crimes such as murder, robbery, and assault.

The Young Thug Trial Got Its New Judge — Who Also Recused Herself Two Days Later

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The high-profile racketeering case against Young Thug was assigned a new judge after the old one was removed, but the new judge is already off the case. According to local news coverage, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram was randomly assigned to the case on Monday (July 15), but today filed an Order of Recusal taking herself off the case.

Her reason for recusing herself was to avoid any appearance of favoritism or bias after it was revealed last June that her court deputy was involved in an inappropriate relationship with one of the YSL case’s co-defendants, Christian Eppinger. The former deputy had been assigned to Judge Ingram’s courtroom for almost six months by the time the relationship was discovered, and the deputy was arrested.

The deputy, identified by local news as Akeiba Stanley, was arrested after Fulton County deputies seized Eppinger’s attorney Eric Johnson’s laptop, after discovering it was being used to allow him to communicate with alleged YSL members not in custody. Stanley also allegedly used a phone to communicate with Eppinger, visited him in his jail cell, and tried to smuggle contraband into the jail for him.

Although Ingram maintained in her order that she didn’t think the connection constituted any “actual bias for or against any party to this case” (a pretty boilerplate response for this situation), she acknowledged that it could affect public perception. A new judge, Paige Reese Whitaker, has been assigned to the case. The prior one, Judge Ural Glanville, was recused after a third-party review following his order to hold Thug’s attorney Brian Steel in criminal contempt of court.

Young Thug’s Racketeering Trial Will Start Over With A New Judge After Ural Glanville Was Removed From The Case

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After months of slowdowns, delays, and controversies, the racketeering trial against Young Thug and alleged gang/record label YSL will restart with a new judge, as Ural Glanville, who had overseen the trial for the past year and a half, has been removed from the case, according to documents filed with the Fulton County Superior Court. Ironically, the news comes from ThuggerDaily, a fan account on Twitter that has been following the case intently, for obvious reasons.

According to Judge Rachel Krause, who approved the motion to have Judge Glanville recused, he was not removed over the ex parte meeting with witness Kenneth “Woody” Copeland that prompted Glanville to have Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel held in criminal contempt of court. Rather, she approved Glanville’s recusal due to his prior judgments to deny previously filed motions to recuse, in which he offered his own opinions as justifications, leaving his judgments open to critique. In order to “preserve the public’s confidence in the judicial system,” she deemed it necessary to have Glanville removed from the case.

Steel avoided a sentence of several weeks worth of jail time, as the sentence was suspended until an appeal could be completed. With Glanville removed from the case, Steel will likely be let off the hook.

The Young Thug Trial Has Reportedly Been Put On Hold Until A Recusal Judgment Is Made

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Last month, the racketeering trial against YSL and Young Thug was sent into disarray as Judge Ural Glanville had Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, held in criminal contempt, sentencing him to a month of weekends in jail alongside his client. While that sentence was suspended while Steel appeals the decision, now the whole proceeding has reportedly been put on hold, as another judge must now review a recusal motion filed against Glanville by the defense.

The defense moved to have Judge Glanville recuse himself a couple of times in this case, but he’s refused on every occasion. On June 18, he denied the most recent motion, which stemmed from a secret meeting between the judge and a witness for the prosecution — the same meeting that prompted Steel’s supposed contempt of court when the defense attorney demanded the minutes from the meeting and refused to tell Glanville how he found out about it.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the case will now be on hold until another judge has made a decision on whether Glanville can continue to preside over the case, which has been underway for 100 days today.

Young Thug is accused of being the ringleader of a criminal organization, YSL (Young Slime Life), which has been credited with a wave of crimes across Atlanta, including armed robbery, drug trafficking, and attempted murder.