The 32-year-old rapper Jeffery Lamar Williams aka Young Thug went on trial on Monday, November 27, 2023. There are a number of criminal charges against him. However, officials mainly want to know whether or not he is associated with the criminal street gang, called Young Slime Life (YSL).
Thug was at the height of his career until his arrest in 2022. According to the Los Angeles Times, he was charged with participating in gang-related activity as well as violating Georgia’s criminal racketeering law. He faced these charges for his alleged association with YSL.
According to a 56-count indictment, officials in Georgia accused Thug of being one of the founders of Young Slime Life (YSL). The indictment further stated that the gang, founded in 2012, had ties with the national Bloods gang. YSL allegedly participated in murders, shootings, carjackings, and thefts.
If found guilty under the RICO Act, the court could sentence him to up to 120 years in prison. Earlier this year, Hulu released a documentary titled Rap Trap: Hip Hop on Trial. Starring Fat Joe, Killer Mike, and several others, this documentary sheds light on this infamous case.
The official synopsis of Rap Trap: Hip Hop on Trial reads, “The Atlanta case against Young Thug (Jeffery Williams) and Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) stunned the hip hop world and reignited a national conversation around the use of song lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. For some, the lyrics are evidence of wrongdoing. But for others, this case spotlights a disturbing trend of criminalizing Black art that goes back decades.”
It further states, “Artists, music executives and those close to the accused trace hip hop’s evolution, historical mischaracterizations of the genre and other examples of when lyrics have been introduced in the courtroom, including the story of McKinley Phipps Jr. in New Orleans.”
What did Young Thug’s attorney say in the court?
Young Thug’s attorney is Brian Steel. In the court proceedings, Steel opened his statement by stating that his client was innocent. Furthermore, he even stated that Thug didn’t have a clue who most people were in the indictment.
According to Billboard, Steel said, “(Young Thug) doesn’t even know most of the people in this indictment. He’s not sitting there telling people to kill people. He doesn’t need their money. Jeffery is worth tens of millions of dollars.”
According to CNN, Brian Steel said that Young Thug was not interested in money, power, or property. Steel furthermore added that the rapper was a hard worker and made a name for himself without anybody’s help.
Steel stated, “He is not running this criminal street gang in Cleveland Avenue area of ‘Bleveland,’ to gain property, money or power. Jeffery Williams did it on will and hard work and determination without anybody’s help except for the people from that area who he will not turn his back on”
Furthermore, Brian Steel said that his client’s moniker “Thug” stood for “Truly Humble Under God,”. He even added that the police and prosecutors targeted the rapper and mistook his charity for a conspiracy.
