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Young Thug has taken a plea deal in the YSL (Young Slime Life) case that has lasted nearly a year.
UPDATE (6:40 pm: After being sentenced to 40 years, with five to be served, his sentence was commuted to time served along with 15 years of probation. Thugger is going home.
The Atlanta rapper’s sentence signals the inevitable conclusion of reportedly the longest trial in Georgia’s history.
The New York Times reports that on Thursday (Oct. 31), Young Thug aka Jeffery Lamar Williams pleaded guilty to six counts that included possession of drugs and firearms, conspiracy to violate the RICO act and leading a criminal street gang.
Thugger took a non-negotiated plea deal, which means it will be up to Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker to decide his sentence. Apparently, this option was presented after Thug’s lawyers and the prosecution were unable to come to terms on a plea. Reportedly, the option to plead out and leave court a free man the same day was presented, but Thug didn’t agree to conditions that included 15 years of probation.
Young Thug was near a plea deal that would have released him from jail today on 15 years probation.
But they couldn’t agree on his release conditions, and now prosecutors are recommending 25 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/PiKidTckzM
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) October 31, 2024
It seems that Thug’s hand essentially was forced since last week three of his co-defendants took plea deals.
Now his fate is in the judge’s hands, with prosecutors reportedly recommending the 33-year-old get 45 years with 25 served in prison and another 20 years of probation
Prosecutors characterized the rapper as the ringleader of a YSL gang that loomed over the streets of Atlanta, dabbling in robbery and drug dealing, among other crimes. And then, his music career happened to flourish, too.
While Young Thug has taken a plea, his remained co-defendants—Deamonte Kendrick aka Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell aka SB—who are charged with a murder in 2015, amongst other counts.
YSL was originally indicted on RICO charges and its alleged members were arrested in 2022, and jury selection took nearly a year. The trial, which has been streamed online, has featured dramatic turns of botched plea deals, witnesses refusing to testify, rap lyrics being read in court and more dramatics straight out of a TV crime drama.
However, the players are very real. Thug’s lawyer, Brian Steel, who at one point was threatened with contempt charges, is making the case that his client has been denied justice. See social media’s response to the latest YSL trial antics in the gallery.
YOUNG THUG’S LAWYER SAYS THE PROSECUTION HAS MIS-STATED AND MISREPRESENTED THE EVIDENCE
HE IS NOW GOING THROUGH ALL THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE INDICTMENT 1 BY 1 AND EXPLAINING THE EVIDENCE THAT THE STATE LEFT OUT pic.twitter.com/yUx0GeMNai
— THUGGERDAILY ひ (@ThuggerDaily) October 31, 2024
This story is developing.