ATLANTA — Young Thug will be released after pleading guilty to six of eight charges in the long-running RICO trial against him and the alleged YSL street gang, marking the end of his involvement in Georgia's longest trials.
It comes after several other defendants also accepted plea deals in the last three days following several days of negotiations with the state.
Judge Paige Whitaker sentenced Williams to 40 years, with 5 to service, but commuted to time served with 15 years of probation followed by backloaded 20 years.
If not successful on probation, it can be served in custody, but if successful, it can be commuted to time served after probation is fulfilled. He will remain on reporting status for the first 7.5 years.
The judge imposed several special conditions, including staying away from the Atlanta census area for the first 10 years except for exceptions.
The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, entered a non-negotiated plea, which means the state and defense can submit their recommendations, but the judge must rule on them.
Williams pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including gang activity and weapons and drug charges. However, he pleaded no contest to violating the RICO Act and participation in a criminal street gang, meaning he didn't plead guilty or not guilty but simply accepted the charge.
The state recommended 45 years, with 25 to serve in custody and 21 on probation subject to the special gang statute.
The state's initial offer would have allowed Williams to be released today with 15 years on probation, but he did not agree to the extra conditions of the agreement.
The defense recommended 45 years, with five to serve commuted to time served and 40 years on probation credit for time already served. After 3 years of probation, it becomes nonreportable, and after 10, the balance is terminated.
Defense attorneys also proposed several conditions, including house arrest, community service, travel and restrictions.
Williams addressed the court remorsefully following his attorney's recommendation.
"I promise you I won't be in this situation again," he told the judge. "I'm sorry—you are truly the best thing that's happened to me because you've made everything fair for everybody involved on both sides."
Prosecutors allege Williams is one of the founders of Young Slime Life, or YSL, a criminal street gang that started in late 2012 in the Cleveland Avenue of Atlanta.
They also alleged Williams made YSL a "well-known name by referring to it in his songs and on social media."
A grand jury indicted him in 2022 on eight charges: conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity, three counts of violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony and possession of a machine gun.
Williams has been behind bars since May of 2022.
He was one of three defendants remaining in the current RICO trial, where jury selection began in January 2023. Now, only two remain - Shannon Stillwell, aka SB, and Deamonte Kendrick, aka Yak Gotti. Kendrick rejected a plea just hours before Williams pleaded guilty.
What happens now?
The context around how the trial will go forward remains unclear. It has been more than a week now since a regular court session, as negotiations have been going on between prosecutors and defense attorneys and the jury has not been summoned back to court.
The three defendants to plead guilty this week under negotiated deals were Quamarvious Nichols, on Tuesday, then Rodalius Ryan and Marquavius Huey on Wednesday. There were varying terms to those plea deals, which you can read about here.
The sudden flurry of plea deals appears to have been spurred on by the possibility of a mistrial looming over the case. That possibility arose last week after a new witness, rapper Slimelife Shawty, took the stand and was asked to identify others involved in the case based on social media posts.
While reading a caption for one of the posts in question, Lee accidentally read an unredacted version on the paper exhibit instead of the redacted version displayed on a monitor.
The unredacted version featured the hashtag #FreeQua, which Lee read aloud to the jury. Defense teams quickly moved for a mistrial, as the jury was not supposed to know which defendants had been incarcerated.
Following the mishap, Judge Paige Whitaker excused the jury and witness and instantly began admonishing the prosecution.
Whitaker told the defense while she would not agree to a mistrial with prejudice, she left the possibility open for a mistrial without prejudice, meaning the case would end, but the State could retry it.