Gunna and Young Thug were among 28 YSL members arrested in May and charged in a 56-count grand jury indictment that included “conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, murder, armed robbery, and participation in criminal street gang activity,” as reported first by WSB-TV’s Michael Seiden. Gunna remained optimistic — sharing an open letter from Fulton County Jail in June that partially stated his innocence and intention to “never stop fighting to clear my name” — despite being denied bond three times.
Today, December 14, Gunna was finally freed. WSB-TV reported that Gunna “entered a negotiated plea, known as an Alford plea, in which a defendant doesn’t admit he committed the crime but acknowledges that it is in his best interest to plead guilty.” Gunna pled guilty to one charge of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, and his subsequent five-year sentence, with one year being commuted to time served and the remaining four-year sentence “suspended and will be subject to special conditions, including 500 hours of community service,” per WSB-TV.
This evening, videos began circulating of Gunna leaving Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. The multiplatinum-certified rapper was all smiles, embracing a woman and walking hand-in-hand with her to his car.
TAKE A LOOK: Rapper Gunna is officially out of jail. This is video of his first moments walking out of Fulton County Jail after he pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charge in what’s called an Alford Plea @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/k8RXO8OijA
— Eric Perry (@Ericperrytv) December 14, 2022
WATCH: Atlanta rapper @1GunnaGunna released from Fulton County Jail hours after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy.
MORE DETAILS >>> https://t.co/PhM5jMTMG9 pic.twitter.com/8flHvPsmiL— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) December 14, 2022
Gunna released a statement upon his plea deal.
“When I became affiliated with YSL in 2016, I did not consider it a ‘gang’; more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations. My focus of YSL was entertainment — rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community,” it reads, in part.
Gunna emphasized he chose to enter an Alford plea to “end my personal ordeal by publicly acknowledging my association with YSL” and his plan to “look at this as an opportunity to give back to my community and educate young men and women that ‘gangs’ and violence can only lead to destruction.” The two-time Grammy nominee additionally clarified that he has “absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.”
Young Thug is still in jail, awaiting an upcoming trial expected to draw “around 300 witnesses.”
Read Gunna’s full statement below.
complete Gunna statement here
re testifying, Sadow says, “If called by any party in this case, he will testify truthfully, but he reserves his right to assert his 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination.” pic.twitter.com/0WMJo9vTaC
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 14, 2022
seven months later, during what was shaping up to be the biggest year of his career by far
as part of the plea, Gunna will do 500 hours of community service, including 350 hours with “young men and women about the hazards and immorality of gangs and gang violence” https://t.co/wjnDdS6eoc
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 14, 2022
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