Paige Reese Whitaker, a Fulton County Superior Court judge known for her efficiency, sentenced Atlanta rapper Young Thug to 15 years’ probation Thursday, effectively allowing the Atlanta rapper to leave the Fulton County Jail after nearly two and a half years.
Whitaker inherited the racketeering and gang case in July when she replaced Chief Judge Ural Ganville, who was recused from the case after clashing with Young Thug’s attorney over a secret meeting with prosecutors.
Under Glanville, the trial had become the longest in Georgia’s history and been plagued with delays and infighting.
From her first appearance on the bench in the case, Whitaker seemed intent on setting a more efficient pace. She said court would begin promptly at 8:45 a.m. and warned against defendants’ eating and listening to headphones during testimony.
Whitaker, who has served since 2017, is a former Fulton County prosecutor who also worked at the state Attorney General’s Office. She attended the College of Charleston and Duke University Law School.
She has been involved in a number of politically charged cases.
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In September, Whitaker allowed the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission to begin accepting complaints that could lead to sanctions against local prosecutors accused of misconduct.
The commission has garnered attention for its role in Republican-led efforts to discredit Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her investigation into election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Credit: File Photo
Credit: File Photo
Whitaker also was connected to a 2020 criminal investigation into her former boss, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. Howard had come under fire after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV reported that he was using his nonprofit organization as a conduit to funnel $195,000 of city of Atlanta funds into his pocket.
When defending the arrangement, Howard cited a 2014 memo that Whitaker, then a top appellate lawyer in the DA’s office, had prepared after he asked her if he could supplement his pay with city funds. Whitaker’s memo said her research showed he could do so.
But six years later, Whitaker, by now a Superior Court judge, said she had no idea Howard was using his nonprofit as a way to funnel city funds his way. “Had I been asked whether he could do what he apparently did, I would have said no,” Whitaker said in a statement given to the AJC.
She subsequently recused herself from all criminal cases brought by Howard until he left office.
Whitaker has honed a reputation for quickly churning through cases. She ended June with 109 pending criminal cases, court statistics showed, the fewest of her colleagues outside of Glanville.
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