Rapper Young Thug is a free man after changing his plea to guilty today (Oct. 31) as part of what had become the longest criminal trial in Georgia history. The 33-year-old artist, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was indicted in 2022 under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute for allegedly leading the street gang YSL (Young Slime Life).
Prosecutors asked for a 45-year sentence comprising 25 in prison and 20 on probation, but Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker set Williams free with credit for time served. His sentence includes a number of restrictions, including 15 years of probation and a potential 20-year jail sentence if he were to violate terms of said probation.
Williams is also not permitted to be in the Atlanta metro area for the first 10 years of probation, other than when he will deliver anti-gang and violence presentations multiple times per year at schools and community organizations.
Williams was at the center of the government’s case against YSL, whose members have been accused of a variety of crimes, including murder, drug dealing and robbery. Three co-defendants accepted plea deals earlier this week on racketeering conspiracy charges and were sentenced to probation and time served. One of the men, Rodalius Ryan, will remain in jail after a 2019 life sentence for murder.
The case initially had 27 co-defendants, with Williams’ own livestreamed trial beginning in January 2023 with jury selection. Opening statements did not take place until last November. The original judge, Ural Glanville, recused himself this summer following allegations of misconduct by Williams’ attorneys.
Last week, the case appeared on the brink of a mistrial after a prosecution witness accidentally read an unredacted document out loud in front of the jury.
Young Thug, who has been in jail since his May 2022 arrest, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with his first two albums, 2019’s So Much Fun and 2021’s Punk. He shared in the 2019 Song of the Year Grammy for co-writing Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”