Atlanta rapper Young Thug arrested on gang-related charges: NPR
Amy Harris / Amy Harris / Invision / AP
ATLANTA – Rappers Young Thug was one of 28 people indicted Monday in Georgia on charges of conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO statute and street gang crimes, according to prison records.
Atlanta rapper Jeffrey Lamar Williams was arrested at his home in Buckhead, an Atlanta neighborhood, just north of downtown. He is being held at the Fulton County Jail.
Prison records say the conspiracy began in 2013 and the gang charged in 2018.
Young Thug is believed to be one of three founders of Young Slime Life, “a street crime gang that began in late 2012” in Atlanta, the indictment said. Officials say the YSL has links to the national Bloods gang. The charges include “Preserving, protecting, and enhancing the business’s reputation, power, and territory through operational fraud including murder, assault, and threats of violence.”
Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel told local media that “Mr Williams has committed no crime” and that he will “fight until the last drop of blood to wipe him out.”
He will have his first court appearance on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m
Also indicted on Monday were Atlanta rapper Gunna, real name Sergio Kitchens, and aspiring rapper Christian Eppinger, who served time in prison, accused of shooting an Atlanta police officer six times in February. It was not immediately known if Gunna, who was accused of conspiring to violate the state’s RICO statute, had been arrested.
In April 2021, Young Thug and Gunna applied for bail for 30 low-level prisoners who were unable to support their own expenses.
Young Thug’s record label was called YSL Records or Young Stoner Life Records. The label mentions its artists as part of “Slime Family” and a compilation album called “Slime Language 2” that reached number one on the chart in April 2021.