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    Banned From Atlanta: The Challenges of Young Thug’s Unique Probation

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    The rapper was released from jail last week after a surprise guilty plea. For 15 years, a set of strict requirements will govern his life and music.One of the defining Atlanta rappers of his generation is no longer welcome in Atlanta.Following a surprise guilty plea last Thursday in a gang conspiracy and racketeering case that had already lasted nearly three years, the musician Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, was given 48 hours to vacate the Atlanta metro area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, for the next decade.Once the chart-topping face of Atlanta’s ever-evolving music scene, Mr. Williams, 33, may now return only briefly, under strict circumstances: for the anti-gun and anti-gang presentations he is required to make to local youth four times annually, or for the weddings, funerals, graduations or medical emergencies of his immediate family members.Mr. Williams’s banishment from his hometown was just one of 12 special conditions that he agreed to as part of a plea deal that allowed him to be released from jail that very evening. But can an international hip-hop star pick up where he left off under a new set of strict provisions that could reshape his lyrics, persona and pool of collaborators?According to experts, the length and intensity of Mr. Williams’s probation could present complications down the line, given the requirements of his profession and the vagueness or subjectivity of some of the rules that now govern his life.The judge in the case — who was given full discretion to decide on a punishment because Mr. Williams’s lawyers and prosecutors could not agree on a sentence even if he pleaded guilty — decided on time served and 15 years of probation, with an additional 20 years of prison time hanging over Mr. Williams’s head if he violates the agreement.Along the way, Mr. Williams must agree to be searched at any time; take random drug tests; refrain from promoting gangs in any way; and avoid associating with known gang members, excluding his brother, the musician Quantavious Grier, who is known as Unfoonk; and Sergio Kitchens, or Gunna, a rapper signed to Mr. Williams’s label. (Both Mr. Grier and Mr. Kitchens took plea deals in the same case ahead of trial.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Young Thug Released After Guilty Plea in Lengthy YSL Case

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      The star Atlanta rapper admitted to six counts, including participating in criminal street gang activity, ending his role in the longest trial in Georgia history.The star Atlanta rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty to participating in criminal street gang activity in a dramatic courtroom scene on Thursday, bringing his starring role in the longest trial in Georgia history to an unexpected conclusion after bumpy witness testimony complicated the state’s prosecution.After hearing sentencing recommendations from both sides, the judge in the case, Paige Reese Whitaker, sentenced Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, to time served, plus 15 years of probation. He was released Thursday night, according to Fulton County jail records.Mr. Williams, 33, was matter-of-fact as he admitted to six counts, including possession of drugs and firearms, before turning contrite as he addressed the courtroom. Prosecutors had described him in opening statements 11 months ago as “King Slime,” the fearsome leader of a pack that terrorized the streets of Atlanta via gang warfare, robbery and drug dealing for nearly a decade as his music career took off.His guilty plea on Thursday followed a tense courtroom moment in which the judge asked Mr. Williams if he was ready to accept a non-negotiated plea, instead of a negotiated deal with prosecutors, because of an impasse over sentencing. Mr. Williams, looking stricken, conferred with his lawyers briefly before the judge called a recess to allow him to decide.In a non-negotiated plea, the judge is responsible for deciding the sentence based on recommendations from both sides.Upon returning, Mr. Williams said he would accept the blind plea; he also pleaded no contest to two additional counts, leading a criminal street gang and conspiracy to violate the RICO act, the state’s racketeering law.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      One Defendant Accepts a Plea Deal Amid Young Thug’s RICO Trial

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      Prosecutors have accused the star Atlanta rapper of leading a gang in the longest trial in Georgia history. The case has been further delayed by plea negotiations.A defendant in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case against the Atlanta rapper Young Thug and members of his YSL crew agreed to a plea deal in court on Tuesday.Five defendants including Young Thug — born Jeffery Williams — remain, as the case sits in limbo following a motion for a mistrial and a multiday pause stemming from an evidence mishap during witness testimony last week.Mr. Williams, 33, stands charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, and participation in criminal street gang activity, along with six counts related to the possession of weapons and controlled substances. He has pleaded not guilty. The sprawling trial, in which 28 men were initially charged, had already become the longest in Georgia’s history after extended logistical complications, recurring courtroom dramas, the removal of one judge, the appointment of another, and a jail stabbing. Jury selection for the case, which was first charged in May 2022, began in January 2023 and lasted some 10 months, with opening arguments having taken place last November.On Tuesday, after more than three days of trial delays as potential mid-trial deals were considered, the YSL defendant Quamarvious Nichols agreed to a negotiated guilty plea to one count, conspiracy to violate RICO. As a result, prosecutors said they would recommend a 20-year prison sentence, with seven served in person and the balance on probation.The judge overseeing the case, Paige Reese Whitaker, accepted the plea without the jury present, adjourning court for the remainder of the day. A lawyer for Mr. Williams did not respond to a request for comment regarding any ongoing plea negotiations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What Happens Now in Young Thug’s YSL Trial?

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      Already the longest in Georgia history, the star rapper’s trial has been turned upside down. Here’s the latest as the case resumes after an eight-week delay.More than two years since the arrest of the star Atlanta rapper Young Thug on racketeering, gang conspiracy and weapons charges, his trial alongside five co-defendants is already the longest in Georgia’s history. And it is nowhere near finished.On Monday, some 19 months after the start of jury selection and nine months following opening statements, the jury will return to the courtroom to hear testimony for the first time since June 17.They will do so in a changed landscape: Judge Ural Glanville, who had been presiding over the case since the start, was instructed to step down last month and was replaced by Judge Paige Reese Whitaker following a series of heated back-and-forths and motions from the defense about the handling of an uncooperative witness for the prosecution.About 75 witnesses have testified so far, and prosecutors have told Judge Whitaker that they plan to call some 105 more; estimates backed by the new judge predict the trial will likely last through the first quarter of 2025.But the appointment of Judge Whitaker — actually the case’s third judge, because of another typically dramatic twist — is in some ways a fresh start, as she attempts to put a runaway train of a trial back on track.“This has been a long-running and multifaceted proceeding,” Judge Whitaker wrote in one of many decisions she had to make before the case could resume. “Challenges have been myriad and formidable. Frustrations may have been mounting while fortitude was waning.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Judge in Young Thug Trial Is Ordered Off the Case

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      Judge Ural Glanville, who had overseen the case for more than two years, must step aside for meeting with prosecutors and a key witness without the defense.The unpredictable, much-delayed criminal trial of Young Thug, the Atlanta rap star, has been thrown for another loop: The judge overseeing the case for two years has been ordered to step aside.Following weeks of upheaval in the courtroom over an uncooperative witness, a judge in Fulton County, Ga., ruled on Monday that Judge Ural Glanville, who has already presided over 10 months of jury selection and eight months of arguments, must recuse himself in order to preserve “the public’s confidence in the judicial system.”The trial has been paused for two weeks and will resume once a new judge is assigned to the case.The move to have Judge Glanville removed stemmed from motions by lawyers for Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, and another of the rapper’s five co-defendants in the sprawling gang conspiracy case after the judge met secretly with prosecutors and a key witness who refused to testify last month. The defense lawyers said they should have been present for, or at least informed of, the meeting, calling it “improper and coercive.”The ruling by one of Judge Glanville’s judicial colleagues disagreed. “While the meeting could have — and perhaps should have — taken place in open court, nothing about the fact of the meeting or the substance discussed was inherently improper,” Judge Rachel Krause wrote in her decision.But the fact that Judge Glanville defended his actions regarding the meeting in court and ruled on related motions instead of immediately referring those decisions to another judge meant that he should step aside to assure fairness, Judge Krause wrote.“This court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied,” the decision said, “but the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Young Thug’s Gang Trial Is Paused Because of Judge’s Secret Meeting

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      The much-delayed case was halted indefinitely to determine whether the judge should recuse himself after meeting with an uncooperative witness.After more than 10 months of jury selection and 100 days of trial across another half a year, the sprawling and much-delayed gang conspiracy case against the Atlanta rapper Young Thug and five associates has been halted indefinitely.Judge Ural Glanville announced on Monday in a Fulton County, Ga., courtroom that the case would not proceed until another judge decides whether Judge Glanville should recuse himself from overseeing the trial. The surprise ruling followed weeks of disputes between the court and defense attorneys, who have argued that a meeting between the judge, prosecutors and an uncooperative witness was improper and potentially unconstitutional.Judge Glanville had previously denied multiple motions from the defense that called for him to step aside, calling his actions regarding last month’s meeting and its aftermath proper. But on Monday, during a hearing about releasing a transcript of the secret meeting, he agreed that an outside judge should decide how the trial would proceed.Jurors have not heard testimony in the case for two weeks amid the upheaval and were not expected to return until next Monday, following the July 4 holiday weekend. Asked by a prosecutor how long it would take for the trial to get back underway, Judge Glanville said the decision was no longer within his purview. “Hopefully it will get done fairly quickly,” he said.Already plagued by disruptions and complications, both outside and inside the courtroom, the case hit its most recent snag beginning on June 7, when a key prosecution witness, Kenneth Copeland, refused to testify after being sworn in, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to protect against self-incrimination despite having already been granted immunity.Mr. Copeland spent a weekend in jail on contempt charges and then agreed to testify, although he remained hard to pin down on basic factual matters. When Brian Steel, a lawyer for Young Thug, raised concerns about whether Mr. Copeland had been compelled to testify during a coercive meeting with Judge Glanville and prosecutors, the judge demanded to know how Mr. Steel learned of the closed-door meeting and then held him in contempt.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Young Thug Lawyer Clashes With Judge in Chaotic Gang Case

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      Brian Steel, a lawyer for the Atlanta rapper, was ordered to serve 10 weekends in jail after a dispute with the judge, further complicating a messy gang conspiracy trial.A star witness jailed for refusing to testify. A change of heart after a weekend spent behind bars. And then, a lead defense lawyer taken into custody for implying that an improper secret meeting led to the witness’s about-face.Welcome to another week in the gang and racketeering trial of the chart-topping rapper Young Thug, a courtroom epic in Atlanta that continues to surprise as it approaches 18 months since jury selection began.On Monday, Judge Ural Glanville took the extraordinary step of holding Brian Steel, the rapper’s primary lawyer, in contempt for refusing to disclose who told him about a closed-door meeting between the judge, prosecutors, the uncooperative witness and his lawyer.Mr. Steel had argued in court that the conversation was unconstitutional and that the defense should have been present, or at least notified. But in a heated exchange, Judge Glanville took issue instead with how Mr. Steel had learned of the meeting, and later sentenced the lawyer to a maximum of 20 days in jail for failing to reveal his source.“Listen, if you don’t tell me how you got this information then you and I are going to have some problems,” the judge said in court, to which Mr. Steel responded, “I have problems right now.”Judge Glanville, who has overseen the case since Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, was indicted alongside 27 others in May 2022, appeared increasingly frustrated when he continued: “How did you get that information supposedly from my chambers? Did somebody tell you?”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      YSL Defendant Shannon Stillwell Is Stabbed, Delaying Young Thug Trial

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      Mr. Stillwell, known as SB or Shannon Jackson, is among the six defendants currently on trial in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case underway in Atlanta.Shannon Stillwell, a co-defendant of the superstar rapper Young Thug in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case currently underway in Atlanta, was stabbed in jail on Sunday night, a lawyer for Mr. Stillwell said, delaying the blockbuster trial.Mr. Stillwell was being held at the Fulton County Jail, known as Rice Street, a facility that has faced criticism for its disorder and a recent spate of violence.“He is with us — he is alive,” Max Schardt, a lawyer for Mr. Stillwell, said in an interview on Monday. “But I fear that it was serious.”Mr. Schardt said that he was still gathering details about the circumstances of the attack, and that he had arranged to speak with his client this afternoon.Natalie L. Ammons, the director of communications for Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed that Mr. Stillwell was stabbed but did not immediately provide additional details. Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, declined to comment.Mr. Stillwell, known as SB or Shannon Jackson, is among the five defendants currently on trial alongside the popular Atlanta rapper Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, who stands accused of being the leader of a violent criminal street gang known as YSL, or Young Slime Life. Mr. Williams, who has pleaded not guilty, has said that his gangster persona is fictional and that YSL is simply his record label.In addition to being charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, and participation in criminal street gang activity, Mr. Stillwell faces two counts of murder, including involvement in the 2015 drive-by shooting of a rival gang member that prosecutors say set off a yearslong war that terrorized the area. Mr. Stillwell has pleaded not guilty to all charges.The case also includes claims that other members of YSL attempted to kill a rival, Rayshawn Bennett, known as the rapper YFN Lucci, by stabbing him at the Fulton County Jail. (Mr. Bennett is awaiting trial following a 2021 RICO indictment against YFN in Fulton County.)On Monday, the judge in the YSL case, Ural Glanville, called for a recess, citing a “medical issue” involving one of the trial participants. He called for the lawyers to return to court on Tuesday morning to decide how they would proceed.After court adjourned on Monday, Judge Glanville filed two orders in the case related to Mr. Stillwell. One stated that Mr. Schardt and his colleagues could visit Mr. Stillwell at Atlanta’s Grady Hospital, where he was being treated, “to the extent that it is medically cleared.” The other ordered that Mr. Stillwell, upon his recovery, be “kept separate from the other defendants in this case at all times,” including in jail, during transport and at the courthouse.The complex RICO case from the office of the prosecutor Fani T. Willis originally included 28 defendants, many of whom have pleaded guilty or had their cases severed. Since the initial indictments in May 2022, the case has seen disruptions from all sides, including nearly 10 months of jury selection.Opening arguments began on Nov. 27; the trial could last up to six months or more.“We’ve invested a large amount of time in this case to prepare for trial,” Mr. Schardt, the lawyer for Mr. Stillwell, said. “Quite frankly, we want Shannon to have his day in court because we believe that he is innocent. We don’t want unnecessary delays, but we’re going to defer to the doctors.” More

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      Young Thug Lyrics Will Be Allowed as Evidence in YSL RICO Trial

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      A judge ruled on Thursday that at least 17 specific sets of lines from the Atlanta rapper and his collaborators could be used by prosecutors in their gang conspiracy case.A judge decided on Thursday that rap lyrics by the Atlanta artist Young Thug and his collaborators will be allowed as evidence in the racketeering trial of YSL, a chart-topping hip-hop label and collective that prosecutors say is also a criminal street gang responsible for violent crimes.Following months of dueling court filings and a day of arguments about the relevance and admissibility of the song lyrics, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville ruled that 17 specific sets of lines from the music of Young Thug and other YSL artists could be used by the state when the trial begins later this month to argue for the existence of the gang, the defendants’ membership in the alleged criminal conspiracy and their mind state regarding specific crimes they are accused of committing.“The lyrics are being used to prove the nature of YSL as a racketeering enterprise — the expectations of YSL as a criminal street gang,” Mike Carlson, a Fulton County executive district attorney, said in court.Defense lawyers in the case had argued that including the lyrics was a constitutional violation of the First Amendment protecting free speech and would unfairly prejudice the jury.Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, was one of 28 people initially charged in May 2022 with conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO, with some accused of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and other crimes. Prosecutors say Young Thug, who has denied all of the charges and pleaded not guilty, occupied a leadership position in the gang, known as Young Slime Life or Young Stoner Life, which they say is an offshoot of the national Bloods gang.Jury selection for the trial began in January with 14 defendants, following some plea deals and the severing of other defendants from the case. After more than 10 months, a jury was seated last week; six defendants — including Young Thug — are left, with the remainder of the trial expected to last from three months to a year. Opening statements are scheduled for Nov. 27.The use of rap lyrics in criminal prosecutions has long been a thorny topic, with critics and defense lawyers contending that negative attitudes toward crude and violent lyrics in hip-hop could bias a jury. Lawyers for Young Thug argued in this case that the use of lyrics, videos and social media posts was “racist and discrimination because the jury will be so poisoned and prejudiced by these lyrics/poetry/artistry/speech” that it amounted to “unlawful character assassination.”Brian Steel, a lawyer for Young Thug, said in court on Wednesday that lyrics needed to be specifically tied back to alleged crimes in order to be admissible. “They’re targeting the right to free speech,” Steel said.Doug Weinstein, a lawyer for Deamonte Kendrick, the YSL rapper known as Yak Gotti, said, “There is art here, and the art has got to be separated from real life.”“They’re going to look at these lyrics and instantly say these guys are guilty,” Weinstein said of the jury, adding that rappers were playing characters: “It’s what his audience is looking for and demands in gangster rap.”Prosecutors argued that because they were not charging the rappers for the content of their lyrics — as in a terroristic threat case — but merely using the lyrics as supporting evidence that other crimes had been committed, that they were not protected by the First Amendment and should be admitted.They added, “the Defense would seem to opine that if the Unabomber’s manifesto had been set to music, it could not be used against him.” And in court, Carlson, the prosecutor, raised the frequently cited Johnny Cash lyric, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” arguing that if Cash had actually been accused of killing a man in Washoe County, where Reno is located, “his lyrics would have in all likelihood have been used against him.”Carlson also noted that, in a racketeering and gang conspiracy case like the one facing YSL, “evidence of existence and the nature of the organization is not only relevant, it’s required.”Among the specific lyrics admitted as evidence by the judge — taken from songs like “Eww,” “Just How It Is” and “Mob Ties” — are lines that prosecutors argued would establish the existence of YSL (“this that mob life”); the expectations for its self-professed members (“for slimes you know I’ll kill”); and Young Thug’s role as a leader (“I’m the principal (slime!),” “I’m a boss, I call the shots,” “I was a capo in my hood way before a plaque”).The use of the lyrics at trial, Judge Glanville said, would be conditional, depending on prosecutors laying a foundation for their relevance, with any additional lyrics subject to further analysis before they could be admitted. More