(Fwrd Axis) — Atlanta rapper Young Thug, who rose to fame after releasing his mixtape series I Came from Nothing back in 2011 and 2012, was arrested on suspicion of gang involvement and conspiracy to violate the Georgia criminal racketeering law.
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The Grammy award-winning music star, whose legal name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was arrested Monday at his Buckhead home in Georgia. During the raid law enforcement agents tore Williams’ home apart, breaking down walls and digging up his backyard.
In the 88 page indictment Williams and 27 others are identified as members of the YSL (Young Slime Life) criminal gang which is said to be founded by Williams and affiliated with the infamous Bloods gang.
“I’ll tell you the response to any allegation is Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him,” said Brian Steel, the attorney for Young Thug.
YSL was allegedly started in late 2012 in the Cleveland Ave. area of Atlanta.
“We expect that in coming days weeks and months that we will bring RICO indictments against gang members even top level gang members to make sure that we rid them from our society,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told Channel 2′s Mark Winne.
56 charges were listed in the court documents that included everything from robbery to murder. Williams’ RICO Act charge alleges conspiracy between 2013 and this year. The gang activity count against Young Thug comes from allegations made in May 2018.
According to The Guardian, in the indictment Williams is accused of threatening to kill a man at a shopping mall; renting a car that was used during the murder of a man in 2015, Donovan Thomas Jr; and intending to distribute methamphetamine – but he has not been charged with these individual offences, described as “overt acts” that furthered the broader criminal conspiracy.
Atlanta rap artist Gunna, whose legal name is Sergio Kitchens, was also indicted and hit with the RICO conspiracy charge.
In 2021 both rappers, Young Thug and Gunna, posted bail for 30 inmates at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, and Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant held a press conference May 10 at 1:00 PM regarding the indictment and arrest of alleged YSL criminal street gang associates. During the press conference DA Willis said street gangs are responsible for 75% of crimes in Fulton County. Williams is set to appear in court on Tuesday.
