US rapper Young Thug pleads guilty in street gang case / Photo: Robyn Beck - AFP/File
-
Taiwan cleans up after Typhoon Kong-rey leaves two dead
-
Lewis run blitz leads West Indies to big victory over England
-
Dead or alive? Scores missing after Sudan attacks
-
Lawn sign wars: US election drains neighborhood spirit
-
Some defiant south Lebanese stay put in face of Israeli fire
-
Deceptive 'bait-and-switch' Facebook groups snare US voters: study
-
In US swing state Pennsylvania, inflation means 'rent or eating'
-
Immigrant dreams boil over in US-Mexican film 'La Cocina'
-
In US, transgender candidates enter political lion's den
-
Boeing again raises offer to end strike, union to vote Monday
-
'Game of Thrones' movie in early development: reports
-
US rapper Young Thug pleads guilty in street gang case
-
Apple narrowly beats estimates with boost from iPhone sales
-
Bolivia's breadbasket squeezed by pro-Morales blockades
-
Mahomes, Mayfield prepare for duel as Chiefs, Bucs clash
-
Alcaraz suffers Paris Masters shock as race for Turin heats up
-
Harris blasts 'offensive' Trump for remarks on women
-
Alcaraz stunned by 18th-ranked Humbert at Paris Masters
-
UN rapporteur urges climate activist's release ahead of COP29
-
O'Brien takes aim at Classic again with City of Troy
-
US says N.Korea troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensions
-
Trump's 'protect the women' comment: not the first sexist dig
-
Rescuers race to find those washed away by Spain's floods
-
Norris expects 'cleaner battle' with Verstappen in Brazil
-
Ballon d'Or wins 'normal' for Barcelona star Bonmati
-
Spain flooding 'catastrophe' should serve as a warning, EU says at nature summit
-
Verstappen blasts 'biased' critics as world title tension builds
-
Mpox is not under control, warns Africa CDC
-
Spain flood death toll soars to 158, 'dozens' missing
-
OpenAI releases ChatGPT search engine, taking on Google
-
Hamilton says Norris can win Formula One title in 'down to wire' chase
-
Tsitsipas like a 'bull' to keep ATP Finals hopes alive
-
England captain George rejects Marler call for New Zealand to axe haka
-
More than 400 people come forward over Al-Fayed sexual abuse claims
-
Strikes near south, east Lebanon cities after Israel evacuation calls
-
Van Nistelrooy 'motivated' to help managerless Man Utd
-
Mud and misery grip epicentre of Spain floods
-
Georgia says ruling party won disputed election, opposition calls protests
-
Harris slams 'offensive' Trump as rivals go west
-
US election, tech jitters rattle global stocks
-
Harris slams 'offensive' Trump as rivals hit western battlegrounds
-
Tsitsipas keeps ATP Finals hopes alive with gritty Paris win
-
Turkey opposition protests at mayor's arrest for 'PKK ties'
-
EU greenhouse gas emissions saw 'huge' drop in 2023
-
Musk a no-show at $1 mn giveaway US court hearing
-
Beauden Barrett starts at fly-half for New Zealand against England
-
Musk's millions: Five ways the world's richest man helps Trump
-
Spain flood death toll soars to 158
-
Harris, Trump head west in US election race countdown
-
Amorim promises 'clarification' on Man Utd manager's job on Friday
NYSE - LSE
| RBGPF | -0.13% | 60.92 | $ | |
| CMSC | -0.16% | 24.55 | $ | |
| RYCEF | -5.69% | 6.86 | $ | |
| VOD | -1.29% | 9.27 | $ | |
| RELX | -1.49% | 46.22 | $ | |
| GSK | -0.68% | 36.76 | $ | |
| RIO | -1.56% | 64.89 | $ | |
| NGG | -2.33% | 63.59 | $ | |
| BTI | 1.77% | 34.98 | $ | |
| SCS | -1.66% | 12.03 | $ | |
| AZN | -2.36% | 71.15 | $ | |
| CMSD | -0.69% | 24.66 | $ | |
| BCC | -1.01% | 133.03 | $ | |
| JRI | 0.23% | 13.08 | $ | |
| BCE | 0.06% | 32.26 | $ | |
| BP | 1.16% | 29.36 | $ |
US rapper Young Thug pleads guilty in street gang case
Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty on Thursday to involvement in a criminal gang as well as drug and firearms charges, in an abrupt twist to the longest trial in the history of the southern US state of Georgia.
The 33-year-old Atlanta artist, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, was one of 28 alleged street gang members indicted in May 2022 on racketeering and other charges.
Prosecutors accused Young Thug of being the leader of YSL, or Young Slime Life, a part of the Bloods gang, and charged him with violating state racketeering laws.
The underlying offenses in the racketeering indictment included murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing and theft.
The Grammy-winning rapper pleaded no contest to racketeering charges and no contest to being a leader of a criminal street gang, but guilty to six other counts including firearms and drug charges.
His sentence will be determined at a later date by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who replaced a previous judge who presided over the protracted trial.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted prosecutors as saying they would seek a sentence of 45 years -- 25 years in custody and 20 on probation.
Jury selection in the case began in January 2023 but opening arguments were not held until November 27 of that year.
During opening arguments, prosecutors said Young Thug's record label, YSL, was a front for a crime ring and he was the leader.
"The evidence will show that YSL checks all of the boxes for being a criminal street gang," Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love said.
Love read verses from Young Thug's track "Take It To Trial," saying the lyrics the prosecution had identified had "an uncanny similarity to very true, and very real, and quite specific events."
"We didn't chase the lyrics to solve the murder, we chased the murder and found the lyrics," she said.
The defense insisted that YSL stands for Young Stoner Life Records, a hip-hop label that Young Thug founded in 2016 and which, they say, amounts to a vague association of artists, not a gang.
Defense attorneys had sought to exclude lyrics from evidence, saying that "rap is the only fictional art form treated this way."
A rap vanguard essential to the Atlanta scene, Young Thug is one of contemporary hip-hop's most famous and most idiosyncratic figures.
L.Harper--AMWN
