Young Thug’s brother hadn’t yet paid his probation fines or completed any of his court-ordered community service when he was arrested last month, accused of having a gun in his car at a south Atlanta gas station.
Now he’s headed to prison for nine-and-a-half years, the balance of his probation.
Quantavious Grier, 34, who last year accepted a plea deal in Fulton County’s sweeping Young Slime Life gang case, was arrested again after an Atlanta police officer approached his Mercedes for an alleged window tint violation.
The officer testified Monday that he smelled “a faint odor of marijuana,” asked Grier to step out of the car and spotted a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun inside the driver’s side door panel, an apparent violation of Grier’s probation.
Grier told officers the gun was registered, but didn’t mention that his probation prohibited him from having firearms or associating with any of his co-defendants.
On Monday, Chief Judge Ural Glanville sentenced Grier, who performs under the stage name “Unfoonk,” to prison.
”All you had to do was complete your probation and do what you were supposed to do,” Glanville told him. “Instead, you were out riding around with a gun in your car.”
Grier’s attorney, Nicole Moorman, asked the judge to sentence her client to just two years, saying the plea deal in the sprawling gang case was technically his first felony conviction.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“This is Mr. Grier’s community. This is all he knows,” Moorman said referring to the Cleveland Avenue BP that prosecutors describe as a “YSL stronghold.”
“He’s never had anybody leading him, he’s never had anybody guiding him,” Moorman told the judge.
Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love noted that Grier recently had a murder conviction overturned and was effectively out on bond while waiting to be retried.
As part of his December deal in the gang case, Grier pleaded guilty to one count of violating the state’s RICO act and one count of theft by receiving stolen property.
He was released after being sentenced to 12 years, with two years commuted to time served and the balance on probation. Under the conditions of that agreement, he was to complete 750 hours of community service and was prohibited from possessing any firearms.
He was also forbidden from talking to Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, or any of the other defendants named in the Fulton gang indictment.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Prosecutors say Williams is the co-founder and leader of Young Slime Life, which they allege is a southwest Atlanta gang responsible for much of Atlanta’s crime. Young Thug’s attorneys strongly contest the charges, arguing that YSL is simply the name of the award-winning rapper’s record label.
In Grier’s arrest affidavit, an Atlanta detective wrote that he’s been investigating YSL since 2009. He said the group has been engaged in what he described as an “ongoing war” with rival gangs, which resulted in more than 100 shootings and several homicides since January 2015.
Jury selection is the sprawling YSL trial began in January and is still underway.
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