Rapper Young Thug has taken the stand in court as Georgia mounts a high-profile organized crime case against him and his label, Young Stoner Life, in what has been labeled “the YSL RICO Trial,” which began in November 2023.
Rapper Gunna and seven other Young Stoner Life members were released from incarceration in December since a wave of mass arrests in May 2022, indicating a set of plea deals against Young Thug and the remaining YSL label members still held by authorities. The Grammy Award-winning rapper, who runs the Young Stoner Life record label, has been accused of co-founding the Young Slime Life criminal gang, which has ties to the national Bloods gang, among other charges.
Gunna was released of prison on Dec. 14, 2022, and was charged with 500 hours of community service instead of the five-year prison term he was originally supposed to face. This has led the remaining YSL members to go to trial, starting on Nov. 27, 2023.
Young Thug has been indicted and accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, a law that allows state authorities to build a larger case of organized crime activity and racketeering against individuals.
An 88-page indictment against Young Thug included charges of drug possession, drug dealing, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, murder, robbery, burglary, aggravated battery, theft and many more crimes. The prosecution’s arguments have included using certain lyrics to Young Thug’s songs as evidence of wrongdoing and criminal activity against him, and defense attorney Brian Steel’s claims of fictional creativity and artistic expression have seen divisive responses on social media and viral video responses. One of the “reaches” is Thug being an acronym for “Truly Humble Under God,” in addition to other claims that Young Thug’s lyrical topics are all fiction and just art.
