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Young Stoner Life continues to battle hardship, as Gunna has been denied bond due to the possibility of “witness tampering.”
Per Billboard, a Georgia judge refused to release Gunna and YSL head honcho Young Thug, denying pre-trial for the Drip Season 4 emcee and deferring a decision to Thug entirely. The pair are currently incarcerated at Fulton County Jail in Georgia awaiting trial for the collective’s sweeping RICO charges.
Gunna’s trial is now set for January 2023, however, the judge did not rule on whether Young Thug should be released on bond. Instead, his proceedings are currently delayed to decide if the rapper’s attorney, Brian Steel, should be disqualified from the case over a conflict of interest. Thug will still have a chance at bond once this is litigated in the coming weeks.
Amid the untimely death of YSL rising star Lil Keed, his brother and fellow rapper Lil Gotit was the one to break the news to both Thug and Gunna — taking to Instagram to explain how Thug and Gunna are dealing with the loss of Keed while locked up.
“Talked to [Young Thug] yesterday,” he wrote. “keed u fucked him up with this one but we know you guarding him through these times and make sure he gone be alright We da Proud Family can’t nothing stop us… Talked to [Gunna], he good, just sad what’s goin on wit twin but everything gone be in our favor.”
Keed’s death came just days after Thug was denied bail from Fulton County. Following a raid at his home in Buckhead, Georgia in early May, Thug was additionally booked for a large quantity of drugs and illegal possession of firearms — which included a sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle and fully automatic machine gun.
A total of seven new felony charges were added to Thug’s RICO rapsheet, as he was declared “flight risk” with potential to commit further crimes if he was released.
Young Thug, Gunna booked into Fulton County Jail in Georgia
The PUNK rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, was admitted into Fulton County Jail on May 9 where he currently awaits trial for accusations of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and involvement in criminal gang activity, per WSB-TV.
The grounds for this RICO charge are based on alleged offenses — one in January 2013, and the other in May 2018, as well as a 56-count grand jury indictment from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. YSL superstar Gunna was also charged for one count in violation of RICO and was booked into Fulton County Jail on May 11.
XXL reported that one of these incidents alleged that members of YSL sought out Thug for permission to order a hit on rapper YFN Lucci while he was jailed in Atlanta. Thug appeared in court via Zoom on May 10, but did not say a single word.
Young Thug’s attorney claimed his innocence to WSB-TV and had this to say following his arrest: “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.”
According to Rolling Stone and Complex, the grand jury indictment also lists the names of 28 YSL affiliates involved in this activity. The aforementioned report refers to Young Stoner Life as a “criminal street gang that started in late 2012” that “claims affiliation with the national Bloods gang.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
The indictment states that Thug and YSL member engaged in activities such as:
- Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through acts of racketeering activity including murder, assault and threats of violence;
- Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise by the posting of messages, images, videos and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and a willingness to engage in violence on its behalf;
- Maintaining armed individuals ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through the use of violence;
- Obtaining money, weapons and other property through acts of racketeering activity, including robbery, theft and the unlawful sale and distribution of drugs;
- Obstructing law enforcement investigations and court proceedings through witness intimidation and attacks upon law enforcement officers.
