After over a year of delays, the racketeering trial against Young Thug and YSL began yesterday with opening statements. Fulton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love reiterated the state’s assertion that the rapper was the leader of a violent criminal gang that “created a crater in the middle of Fulton County’s Cleveland Avenue community that sucked in the youth, the innocence and even the lives of some of its youngest members.”
For his alleged role in the creation and leadership of said gang, Young Thug could end up facing up to 120 years in prison if convicted. Initially only charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity, Thug was also charged with possession of an illegal machine gun and possession of a firearm by a felon after a raid of his home.
Due to the way Georgia’s state RICO law is structured, the state does not actually have to prove that Thug ordered or even knew about criminal activities carried out by the gang, only that he held a leadership position within it. To that end, the Fulton County DA’s office has decided that Thug’s lyrics are all the evidence they need — a decision that has proven controversial and been characterized as racist by a number of observers.
Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.