Young Thug and Gunna arrested along with 26 others on gang-related charges
Grammy Award-winning rapper Young Thug was arrested on Monday and booked on gang-related charges into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, 30, was charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of participating in criminal street gang activity after authorities accused him of renting a car that was used to carry out a 2015 drive-by shooting that claimed the life of 26-year-old Donovan Thomas.
He was also charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Video footage posted to TikTok and Twitter showed several police vehicles outside a home in the upmarket Atlanta suburb of Buckhead on Monday afternoon.
The man, believed to be the Williams, can be seen being led away by police with his hands bound by zip tie handcuffs.
The rapper was taken into custody by Atlanta police – although few details have been shared about the arrest. One photographer at the scene noted that 10 people were handcuffed and detained during the raid on Williams’ home.
Agents also tore Williams’ home apart, according to TMZ, breaking down walls and digging up his backyard.
Williams is accused of conspiring to associate with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity, according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
A grand jury indictment identified him and 27 others as members of the same street gang.
The indictment runs a whopping 88 pages long, according to The New York Times.
It alleges Williams is a founder of a criminal gang that has been operating in Atlanta since 2012, known as Young Slime Life or YSL. Authorities said YSL is affiliated with the infamous Bloods, which operate across the country.
The indictment also alleges Williams and YSL member engaged in the activities including:
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.
Some members have been charged with violent crimes including murder and attempted armed robbery.
Williams’ RICO Act charge stretches back to an alleged offense in January 2013, while his count of gang activity comes from allegations made in May 2018, according to jail records seen by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
According to the indictment, Williams is accused of renting a 2014 Infiniti sedan Hertz that was allegedly used in the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr., who was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Two other YSL associates, Christian Eppinger and Antonio Sumlin, are also accused of seeking Thug’s permission to make a second murder attempt on fellow rapper YFN Lucci while he was imprisoned in Fulton County Jail.
Lucci was allegedly stabbed while at the facility in February.
‘I’ll tell you the response to any allegation; Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him,’ his defense attorney Brian Steel said to WSB on Monday night.
The RICO law has been a popular strategy for prosecutors to target the members of organized crime in the past.
Williams is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, is reportedly facing one count of conspiracy to violate (RICO) – while Thug’s charges are much more serious.
Williams’ arrest comes as the District Attorney, Fani Willis, vowed last week to crack down on street gangs in 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,” Willis said during an interview.
Young Thug’s Young Stoner Life (YSL) record label had been doing well over the past couple of years. Those associated with the label are referred to as being part of the ‘Slime Family’.
Young Thug released his debut album at the end of 2019 entitled So Much Fun and earned first number one album.
In the years that followed, the label’s success continued with four more chart-topping releases: Gunna’s Wunna and DS4EVER.
In total, he earned three No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart and has collaborated with stars both in and outside of the rap world.
The label released a 2021 compilation album called Slime Language 2, and Thug’s Punk. – dailymail
