While most of the focus at the Fulton County Courthouse has been on the Young Slime Life trial involving Atlanta rapper Young Thug, another case involving an Atlanta rapper has been at a standstill.
YFN Lucci, whose real name is Rayshawn Bennett, has since May 2021 been in the Fulton County Jail awaiting trial. He is charged with one count of RICO, four counts of violation of the street gang terrorism and prevention act, one count of felony murder, six counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office submitted a plea offer with the court last week, recommending a sentence of 20 years to serve 17 prison with the balance probated.
Bennett’s attorneys, Drew Findling and Gabe Banks, called the offer “absurd.”
“A plea offer is not any indication of the likelihood of a plea and in fact, Mr. Bennett is still waiting, after two and a half years in custody, to be given a potential trial date,” they said in a statement. “Despite the obstacles consistently placed in the way of Mr. Bennett’s constitutional right to a speedy and fair trial, we continue to be ready and prepared to defend these false allegations.”
Lucci and 11 others were named in a 105-count RICO indictment targeting the Bloods gang in May 2021, a year before Young Thug and his alleged associates were indicted. Lucci’s trial was scheduled to start Jan. 9, but prosecutors began with the YSL trial instead. Jury selection for that trial started Jan. 4; proceedings have been beset with delays and disruptions and no jurors have been seated.
Bennett’s attorneys said the DA’s office’s focus on that and other high-profile cases have monopolized the court’s resources.
Similar to the indictment against YSL members, the YFN indictment is based in part on Bennett’s lyrics and social media posts. At the time, Fulton DA Fani Willis called the indictment “unprecedented” and said it would be the first of several targeting gangs.
The indictment alleges Bennett and his co-defendants are associated with the national Bloods street gang and are guilty of murder, armed robbery, theft and trafficking of controlled substances in furtherance of the national gang and sub-groups in the Atlanta area.
Bennett, 29, known for songs “Key to the Streets” and “Everyday We Lit,” faces an assault charge for a 2020 incident in which he allegedly choked a man and encouraged his beating because the man played music associated with a rival gang, the AJC previously reported. Findling has said his client does not belong to any gang.
“What he is is an internationally recognized musical artist that is a triple platinum winner, that has performed all over the United States and all over the world,” Findling told Channel 2 Action News. “His First Amendment right to musically express himself is no different than the famous rock song ‘I Shot the Sheriff.’ It’s not criminal activity.”
Prosecutors have alleged YFN and YSL are rival gangs. In February 2022, YSL defendants Kahlieff Adams, Damekion Garlington and Jayden Myrick allegedly stabbed Bennett inside the Fulton County jail, according to the YSL indictment.
According to the YSL indictment, just days after the alleged stabbing, co-defendants Christian Eppinger and Antonio Sumlin are accused of discussing how to obtain permission from Williams to make a second attempt on Bennett’s life.
A pre-trial hearing on the case against Bennett and 11 co-defendants has been scheduled for August and a pre-trial conference scheduled for November. It is unclear when a trial would start.
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