Young Thug has pleaded guilty in the YSL trial and will receive probation.
The rapper, Jeffery Williams, was released Thursday night after more than 900 days in detention. He will have to serve 15 years of probation as part of a non-negotiated plea agreement, according to multiple news outlets.
The rapper, who pleaded no contest to charges of racketeering and directing a criminal street gang, accepted an unnegotiated plea deal Thursday involving multiple crimes, including possession of a firearm and participating in a criminal street gang. It is the longest case in Georgia history. In 2022, Williams, along with more than two dozen others, was charged under Georgia’s vast Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO.
Prosecutors aimed to prove that Young Thug was the self-proclaimed leader of the YSL gang and that he was responsible for a number of the gang’s crimes, such as the 2015 shooting death of a suspected rival gang member. Prosecutors said YSL members used Young Thug’s rental car in the murder.
Williams pleaded guilty to six charges: three counts of violating Georgia’s controlled substance laws, one count of possession of a handgun during the commission of a felony, one count of possession of a machine gun and one count of participating in criminal street gang activity.
The two no contest pleas mean that even though he did not contest the charges, he could still be sentenced for them as if he had pleaded guilty.
When asked by the judge if he would comment, Williams said he took full responsibility and apologized to his family before asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to let him go home.
“I’m a smart guy. I’m a good guy. I really have a good heart,” Williams told the judge as he stood before her. “I found myself getting into a lot of trouble because I was just good or cool, you know, and I understand that when you get to a certain height, you can’t do that because it could end (badly).” He Adding: “I learned from my mistakes.”
Williams told the judge Thursday that he recognized the impact rap music has on people’s minds and that lyrics “can be distorted.”
“I promise you, I’m going to change that 100 percent,” Williams said.
Whitaker ordered Williams to spend the first ten years of his probation outside of metro Atlanta, starting two days after his release from prison. According to Whitaker, Williams can return to the Atlanta area for graduations, funerals and weddings, but he must leave within 48 hours of those events.
While on probation, he must give four anti-gang and anti-gun talks in the neighborhood each year, according to the judge.
Williams is also prohibited from knowingly interacting with members or associates of any violent street gang and must complete 100 hours of community service during each year of probation, according to Whitaker.
