After nearly two and a half years behind bars, Atlanta rapper Young Thug left the Fulton County Jail Thursday night after a judge sentenced him to time served and 15 years on probation.
The stunning development upended the sweeping gang and racketeering case, which has become the longest trial in Georgia history. Earlier in the day, the Grammy winner pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges.
His attorney confirmed to reporters that Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, had been released from the jail shortly after his sentencing hearing.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
In a risky move, Williams, 33, entered into a non-negotiated — or blind — plea and left the final sentencing decision up to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker.
Asked if he wished to address the court, Williams apologized for his actions and said he had learned from the experience. He also vowed to do his best to help others in the future.
“I take responsibility for my crimes and my charges,” he told Judge Whitaker. “I hope that you allow me to go home and trust in me to do the right thing.”
As part of the sentence, Williams must stay away from metro Atlanta for a decade. He is allowed to visit the area for things like weddings and funerals.
The state had recommended a sentence of 45 years, 25 to serve in custody and another 20 on probation for Williams.
That recommendation came after Williams and his legal team rejected a deal that would have allowed him to be released from jail Thursday in exchange for a 15-year probation term. Prosecutors said the rapper and his defense counsel turned down the offer because they wouldn’t agree to the special conditions of the deal.
Instead, he pleaded no contest to one count each of conspiring to violate the state’s RICO act and participating in criminal street gang activity, meaning he neither admitted nor denied those charges. But he pleaded guilty to six other charges he faced: a gang count, three counts of violating Georgia’s controlled substances act, possession of a machine gun and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Lead prosecutor Adriane Love said Thursday that authorities found marijuana, codeine and cocaine during a search of Williams’ home, as well as a semiautomatic gun equipped with a “switch” that allowed it to fire more rapidly. Love also read aloud some of Young Thug’s lyrics, which the state used as evidence against him. She accused the musician of rapping “about the crimes that YSL members and co-conspirators committed.”
She also detailed some of the overt acts listed in the indictment, including the January 2015 killing of rival gang member Donovan Thomas outside an Atlanta barbershop. Unlike some of his co-defendants, Williams was never charged with murder.
Williams appeared nervous as he stood with his attorneys in a first-floor courtroom of the Fulton County Courthouse, where he spent countless hours over the past 23 months.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Williams’ attorney, Brian Steel, blasted the prosecution for the way they tried the case, accusing them of being dishonest in court while his client languished in jail without bond like a “hostage.”
“The state has misrepresented for two years,” Steel said. “They have hidden evidence, they violated Brady (which requires prosecutors to share evidence with the defense), they have falsely accused Mr. Williams.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
He said he suggested that his client continue to fight the charges, taking the trial all the way to the end in the hope of securing an acquittal.
“I told Mr. Williams I think we’re winning the trial and I think we should go to verdict, but he told me, ‘I can’t wait another three months if there’s any possibility I could go home because I have children,’” Steel said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Williams’ decision to plead guilty comes days after three co-defendants, Quamarvious Nichols, Rodalius Ryan and Marquavius Huey, accepted plea deals. Two defendants remain.
Intense negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys had been ongoing for more than a week.
Prosecutors accused Williams of being the leader of Young Slime Life, which they contend is a criminal street gang responsible for a spate of robberies, shootings and several deaths. The rapper’s attorneys maintained that YSL, or Young Stoner Life, simply was the name of the star’s record label.
Williams was one of 28 people charged in a sweeping indictment that stunned Atlanta’s hip-hop community when it was handed down in May 2022.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis depicted the indictment as a crackdown on Atlanta’s gangs. She also defended her decision to use the rapper’s own lyrics against him, saying, “If you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m going to use it.”
Of the 28 people initially charged, nine took plea deals before the trial began and 12 others are being tried separately. Another defendant, Cordarius Dorsey, had his charges dropped after being convicted of an unrelated murder.
