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After serving over 900 days in jail, pleading guilty to possession of a firearm and drugs, in Georgia’s longest-ever criminal trial, American rapper Young Thug is a free man.
Young Thug was arrested in May 2022 with 27 others in a 56-count indictment for violations of Georgia’s RICO Act and was released yesterday (October 31) after entering a non-negotiable plea deal.
Initially, Thug was sentenced to 40 years; however, he later received a 5-year prison sentence commuted to time served with a backloaded 20-year sentence in case he violated his probation, and a 5-year prison sentence commuted to time served. In simple terms, Thug’s sentence has been reduced to the amount of time he has already served behind bars during the ongoing trial.
Prosecutors accused the “With That” rapper of commanding a criminal gang that was responsible for over a decade of murders and crime sprees in Atlanta. Thug denied being the leader of the organisation.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, pleaded guilty to six charges, which included one count of participating in criminal street gang operations, three counts of violating Georgia's Controlled Substances Act, one count of carrying a weapon while committing a crime and one count of possessing a machine gun.
Based on all the charges laid against the ATL rapper, he could face a maximum sentence of 120 years in jail. However, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker ordered the rapper to leave the Atlanta area for ten years of probation, conduct anti-gang and anti-gun events four times a year, complete 100 hours of community service annually, and avoid contacting violent street gang members.
Image Source: Gabbara, P. (n.d.). Young thug pleads guilty to gang, drug and gun charges in YSL rico case. Blavity News & Entertainment. https://blavity.com/young-thug-pleads-guilty-ysl-rico-case
