Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges

Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty Thursday in Atlanta to gang, drug and weapons charges.

The 33-year-old Grammy Award winner, Jeffrey Williams, entered the pleas without reaching a plea deal with prosecutors after negotiations between the two sides broke down, lead prosecutor Adrian Love said. So the sentencing rests entirely with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Page Reese Whitaker.

Young Thug pleaded guilty to one gang charge, three drug charges and two weapons charges. He also pleaded no contest to another gang charge and a racketeering conspiracy charge, meaning he chose not to contest those charges but could be sentenced to them as if he had pleaded guilty.

Before deciding on the sentence, the judge heard from Love and attorney Brian Steele.

Love outlined to the judge the evidence she would present to prove Young Thug guilty, including some of his rap songs. She asked the judge to sentence him to 45 years, 25 years in prison and the remaining 20 years on probation.

The rapper’s lead attorney, Brian Steele, said they “vehemently disagree” with many of the claims made by Love and said it was “offensive” that the state was using Young Thug’s lyrics against him.

Steele said the evidence against his client is weak and accused prosecutors of tampering and concealing evidence, saying Young Thug was “falsely accused.” Steele said he told his client he thought they would win the trial and should have a jury verdict.

“But he told me, ‘I can’t wait another three months if there’s a chance to go home because I have children who are hurting. I’ve got things to do,” Steele said.

The wildly successful rapper Young Thug has launched his own label, Young Stoner Life, or YSL. Prosecutors said he also co-founded a violent criminal street gang and that YSL stands for Young Slime Life.

He was indicted two years ago in a sprawling indictment that accused him and more than two dozen others of conspiring to violate Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. He also faces gang, drug and firearms charges.

Young Thug’s plea comes nearly a year after the prosecution began presenting evidence in the troubled trial. Jury selection at the Atlanta courthouse began in January 2023 and lasted nearly 10 months. The trial of the six defendants began with opening statements last November, and since then prosecutors have called dozens of witnesses.

Three of his co-defendants have already pleaded guilty this week following a deal with prosecutors. The pleas leave the fate of two other co-defendants still undetermined.

Nine people accused in the indictment agreed to plead guilty before the trial began. Another twelve are being tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was found guilty of murder in an unrelated case.