The hip-hop world was collectively turned upside down When Young Thug (born Jeffery Williams) along with 27 others were arrested in May 2022 as part of a sprawling 56-count indictment for violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Thugger was identified to be the leader of Young Stoner Life, which Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis believes is a violent street gang that has a history dating back to 2012 of committing a series of crimes including murder, robbery, theft, carjackings, assaults and more.
“It does not matter what your notoriety is, what your fame is,” Willis said following Thug’s arrest. Young Thug and his legal team have maintained the rapper’s innocence at every step of the RICO trial since his arrest.
Young Thug has been denied bond on multiple occasions and will remain behind bars in Cobb County jail until the highly publicized trial concludes. It took more than a year for the case to seat a jury, and the YSL RICO trial finally kicked off in November 2023.
According to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate 11Alive, prosecutors said in court im 2023 that its laundry list of potential witnesses included 737 names. After starting at 28 co-defendants, that number has since dwindled to six, including Young Thug.
Young Thug and his syrupy squeal ushered in a new wave of Atlanta’s trap sound in the mid-2010s, and he put together back-to-back No. 1 albums as an emerging face of hip-hop prior to his arrest. Even while behind bars, Thug’s Business Is Business managed to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in June 2023.
Take a dive into Billboard‘s comprehensive timeline of the YSL RICO trial below.
