Get the parade on Cleveland ready (even though he’s essentially banned from that area, but more on that shortly). Young Thug’s RICO trial has been underway for the better part of two-and-a-half years now, a saga that has seen Thug and his YSL associates incarcerated since May 2022. Since then all manner of drama has unfolded, from a plea that saw Gunna released and subsequently ostracized for appearing to cooperate with law enforcement, prosecutors quoting chart-topping songs as proof of gang affiliation as Thug endearingly rapped along to his heaters, and bizarre occurrences in the court too numerous to even unpack. Through it all, the trial has moved at a glacier pace, going increasingly off the rails (hand-signs thrown on the court by the likes of LeBron James and Serena Williams were cited at one point) all while Thug and co languished, futures uncertain.
The events of the last few weeks have had court reporters predicting a mistrial, but today things accelerated. Atlanta writer Jewel Wicker, who has been covering the case for most of its duration, reported that today the presiding judge asked if Young Thug wished to enter a non negotiated plea since he and the state were at an impasse. From there things moved rather quickly, with Thug and his lawyer Brian Steele rejecting the prosecution’s plea offer, which was a sentencing, of 45 years with 25 to serve in custody followed by 20 years of probation.
Instead Thug moved forward with his plea and left the sentencing to Judge Whitaker, who ultimately leniently ruled with 40 years, five of which to be served in prison, but those five years were commuted to time served. All of that is to say, Young Thug is coming home.
He’s facing some pretty severe probation stipulations, however. He’s essentially banned from metro Atlanta, so the parade Drake sang about throwing for him in the city when this day came probably isn’t happening. Thug also has to do four presentations or concerts a year promoting anti-gang initiatives, and he can only travel for work, i.e. making music or performing. He is to have no contact with gang members or any of his YSL co-defendants, except for his brother and Gunna. That last one is interesting, as Thug, via Steele, specifically pushed to maintain contact with Gunna, even though a sizable portion of the rap community has spent the last two years wondering what their true personal standing is since Gunna took his Alford Plea and got released.
We’ll see how Thug moves forward with his freedom, with Gunna, and with his music now that it clearly can’t take the same shapes as it did before. But either way, that first song out is going to be a major moment in what’s already been a momentous year for hip-hop.
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