Influential Atlanta rap artist Young Thug was arrested Monday and charged with conspiracy and street-gang activity, according to court records.
Jeffery Lamar Williams, 30, who performs under the name Young Thug, is being held in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, records show. Williams is accused of conspiracy in 2013 under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law designed to combat organized crime, and of participating in criminal gang activity in 2018, an indictment filed Monday states.
Williams is among 28 defendants named in the 88-page indictment, which alleges that the rapper helped found a Bloods-affiliated gang, “Young Slime Life,” or YSL, WSBTV reported.
Brian Steel, Williams’s lawyer, said his client did not commit any crimes. “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,” Steel told WSBTV. The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post early Tuesday.
On Monday, Williams was arrested at a house in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, the New York Times reported.
Performing as Young Thug, Williams has been hailed as one of the most influential hop-hop artists to emerge in the past two decades. In 2019, Williams won Song of the Year at the Grammys for co-writing “This Is America” with Donald Glover, known as Childish Gambino, and Ludwig Göransson. Williams has been featured in several songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100, and his label, Young Stoner Life, or YSL, has produced numerous albums.
A loss for words: Listening to the post-verbal brilliance of Young Thug
In 2018, Williams was indicted on drug charges with Sergio Kitchens, a rapper who performs as “Gunna,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Williams pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing, according to court records. Kitchens is also among the defendants to be named in the indictment filed Monday.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has promised to combat gang violence, WXIA reported. The prosecutor, who also made headlines for requesting that a special grand jury investigate whether President Donald Trump sought to overturn Georgia’s election results, told WSBTV last week that her office “will bring RICO indictments against gang members even top level gang members to make sure that we rid them from our society.”
Jeffery Lamar Williams, 30, who performs under the name Young Thug, is being held in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, records show. Williams is accused of conspiracy in 2013 under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law designed to combat organized crime, and of participating in criminal gang activity in 2018, an indictment filed Monday states.
Williams is among 28 defendants named in the 88-page indictment, which alleges that the rapper helped found a Bloods-affiliated gang, “Young Slime Life,” or YSL, WSBTV reported.
Brian Steel, Williams’s lawyer, said his client did not commit any crimes. “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,” Steel told WSBTV. The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post early Tuesday.
On Monday, Williams was arrested at a house in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, the New York Times reported.
Performing as Young Thug, Williams has been hailed as one of the most influential hop-hop artists to emerge in the past two decades. In 2019, Williams won Song of the Year at the Grammys for co-writing “This Is America” with Donald Glover, known as Childish Gambino, and Ludwig Göransson. Williams has been featured in several songs that have topped the Billboard Hot 100, and his label, Young Stoner Life, or YSL, has produced numerous albums.
A loss for words: Listening to the post-verbal brilliance of Young Thug
In 2018, Williams was indicted on drug charges with Sergio Kitchens, a rapper who performs as “Gunna,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Williams pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing, according to court records. Kitchens is also among the defendants to be named in the indictment filed Monday.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has promised to combat gang violence, WXIA reported. The prosecutor, who also made headlines for requesting that a special grand jury investigate whether President Donald Trump sought to overturn Georgia’s election results, told WSBTV last week that her office “will bring RICO indictments against gang members even top level gang members to make sure that we rid them from our society.”
