As Young Thug trial begins, prosecutors allege rapper is 'proclaimed leader' of criminal street gang
Opening statements in the racketeering trial of hip-hop star Young Thug began Monday, with prosecutors alleging that the Grammy-winning rapper is a co-founder and "proclaimed leader" of an alleged criminal street gang in Fulton County, Georgia, known as "Young Slime Life" or "YSL."
"The members and associates of YSL they moved like a pack with Jeffrey Williams as its head," Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love alleged during opening statements.
The Grammy-winning rapper, whose legal name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams, is facing gang-related charges in a sweeping RICO indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. The rapper was among 28 individuals charged but is now standing trial with five co-defendants after several of those indicted took plea deals, while the judge ruled that others will be tried separately.
Young Thug, was initially charged on May 10, 2022, with one count each of conspiring to violate the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participating in criminal street gang activity, and was later charged with an additional count of participating in street gang activity, three counts of violating the Georgia controlled substances act, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and possession of a machine gun.
He has pleaded not guilty to all eight counts.
"Mr. Williams has committed no violation of law whatsoever," Steel told ABC News in May 2022, after the charges were announced by the Fulton County District Attorney's office.
Love claimed that the alleged members of YSL committed "criminal street gang activity -- that is crimes that were intended to further the purpose and advance the directives of YSL itself."
"For 10 years and counting, the group calling itself Young Slime Life dominated the Cleveland Avenue community of Fulton County," Love said on Monday. "And created a crater in the middle of Fulton County's Cleveland Avenue community, that sucked in the youth, the innocence and even the lives of some of his youngest members."
Opening statements are set to resume on Tuesday and the rapper's attorneys are expected to present their arguments this week.
The indictment
The charges the rapper is facing stem from a sweeping grand jury indictment that named 28 individuals who are allegedly associated with the Atlanta-based Young Slime Life – a street gang that prosecutors allege Young Thug founded in 2012. YSL is also the acronym for "Young Stoner Life,” the name of the rapper's label and an imprint of 300 Entertainment. The label is not named in the indictment.
Prosecutors allege YSL is a "criminal street gang" that "claims affiliation with the national Bloods gang" and predominantly operates in Southeast Atlanta, but has expanded activities to surrounding areas, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.
"This indictment is significant because it targets 28 people who decided to become involved in a criminal street gang and really do havoc in our community," Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is prosecuting this case, said in a May 10, 2022 press conference announcing the indictment.
"That havoc includes crimes of violence, crimes of theft, crimes involving drugs," she added.
Charges in the 65-count RICO indictment include murder and attempted murder.
Young Thug is not charged with murder or attempted murder but is accused of allegedly renting a car used in the Jan. 10, 2015 killing of rival gang associate Donovan Thomas, Jr., which according to Willis "triggered" additional gang-related killings in the city.
"As a result of [the killing of Donovan Thomas], the back and forth of gun violence and murders that have occurred have probably been in excess of 50 since 2015," Wills told ABC affiliate in Atlanta WSB-TV in May 2022.
Young Thug's legal team filed several motions over the past year to have him released on bond but they were all denied and he has remained in custody since his arrest on May 9, 2022.
The lyrics
Prosecutors argue in the indictment that social media postings, images and various song lyrics released by several defendants, including Young Thug, are "overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy" to violate the RICO Act.
Although the scope of the indictment goes far beyond the use of rap lyrics, the inclusion of lyrics – performed by Young Thug and other co-defendants – as part of the alleged evidence prompted outrage from artists across the music industry and helped spark a movement that came to be known as "Protect Black Art."
The lyrics listed in the YSL indictment are from songs in the same time frame, including Young Thug's hit "Anybody" and several numbers from YSL's 2020 compilation album "Slime Language 2," including "Take it to Trial," "Ski," and "Slatty."
Steel filed a motion in December 2022 asking the judge to stop prosecutors from using lyrics as evidence in this case, arguing that "[Lyrics] cannot be used as evidence of crime if they are simply connected to music/freedom of expression/freedom of speech/poetry."
The judge in the case – Judge Ural Glanville – denied the motion in a November ruling, where he determined that 17 sets of lyrics mentioned in the indictment could be preliminarily admitted in the trial.
"I'm conditionally admitting those pending lyrics, depending upon – or subject to a foundation that is properly laid by the state or the proponent that seeks to admit that evidence," Glanville said.
The judge added that if prosecutors intend to include additional lyrics as part of the alleged evidence in this case, they can be submitted for the judge's review.
a judge ruled that prosecutors can "conditionally" use rap lyrics as alleged evidence in this case.
Opening statements interrupted
It took nearly 10 months for Glanville to seat a jury in this case and on Monday the trial faced another delay after opening arguments were interrupted shortly after they began.
The interruption came when Steel accused prosecutors of sharing information with the jury that they had not previously shared with the defense and motioned for a mistral.
Judge Glanville denied the motion but he lambasted both prosecutors and the defense for interrupting the jury and asked them to work these issues out before the jury returned to the room after a lunch recess.
"I am not happy about any of this because this is stuff we could take care of before our jury comes in," Glanville said.
After the rapper's attorney Brian Steel explained his objection, Glanville asked the jury to leave the room.
Steel claimed that prosecutors from the Fulton County District Attorney's office included in a PowerPoint presentation to the jury information about the conviction of a defendant that is currently under appeal, but had not notified the defense of this information.
"I have a serious motion for a mistrial because that's intentional misconduct," Steel said.
Love objected, saying, "This is not at all the type of thing that rises to the level of mandating a mistrial."
After denying the motion for mistrial, Glanville argued that he gave the jury instructions that opening statements are not evidence and should not be considered as such.
