Young Thug co-defendants acquitted in Georgia’s longest criminal trial

Georgia’s longest-running criminal trial ended Tuesday with not guilty verdicts on all but one charge for the two remaining co-defendants in a sprawling racketeering case that also involved rap superstar Young Thug.

The defendants – Deamonte Kendrick, a rapper known as Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell – both faced charges related to the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Among the most serious charges were the murder of an alleged rival gang member in a 2015 drive-by shooting and conspiracy to violate RICO. Stillwell was also charged with murder in the 2022 slaying of another alleged rival gang member.

The twelve jurors began deliberating on November 26 and found Kendrick not guilty and Stillwell not guilty, except for one charge of gun possession.

Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker sentenced Stillwell to 10 years with credit for two years served since his arrest and the remainder on probation.

“I cannot express the gratitude Fulton County owes you for your service given the length of this process,” Whitaker told the jurors, who were first selected in January 2023.

The case initially involved 28 co-defendants, including Young Thug, who Fulton County prosecutors accused in a 2022 indictment of leading an Atlanta street gang, Young Slime Life, or YSL. (Young Thug founded his own label, YSL Records, in 2016.)

The trial of the co-defendants dragged on with multiple delays and unexpected twists after several defendants took plea deals, while others opted to be tried separately from Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams.

Opening statements began in November 2023 with six co-defendants. The proceedings, which were broadcast live, have captivated social media users, with prosecutors using the Grammy-winning rapper’s lyrics to portray violence and illegal acts and bizarre moments involving alleged drug trafficking, uncooperative star witnesses and combative incidents involving the previous judge is to claim.

By the end of the trial, the state had called more than 175 witnesses, while Stillwell and Kendrick’s defense had none.

The verdict was handed down after yet another dramatic twist, when Kendrick was stabbed in a Fulton County jail building on Sunday. He appeared in court on Tuesday and hugged his lawyer when he heard the not guilty verdict.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said “we always respect the jury’s verdict.”

Stillwell’s attorney, Max Schardt, told reporters after the verdict was announced that jurors took four days of deliberation to reach their decision and that “they did their job.”

“We asked a lot of the jurors and they thoroughly examined the evidence, and they demanded real evidence, but there was none,” he said.

During closing arguments on Nov. 25, Fulton County prosecutors said the defendants participated in a criminal street gang that used guns against rivals: “They have guns and they were not afraid to use them,” said Assistant District Attorney Christian Adkins.

He added that YSL used “deception, intimidation, destruction and death” as members “boasted and boasted” about their exploits on social media and in songs.

To find defendants guilty of violating RICO, he added, jurors must determine which men either conspired to obtain or retain money or other personal property or conspired to engage in an enterprise through a pattern of extortion.

Schardt later argued to the jury that the prosecution had woven his story of a gang conspiracy by “trying so hard to fit that square peg into a round hole.” He also denied that his client had killed anyone and raised suspicions about others who testified and admitted to lying to police.

“The state has not proven their case,” he said, “and certainly has not proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Kendrick’s attorney, Doug Weinstein, ridiculed the state’s claim of gang ties among Young Thug and other YSL artists and associates.

“Pictures of YSL wearing green clothes – that must mean they are a gang,” Weinstein told the jury: “You guys are mostly dressed in blue and black, you guys are hanging out here today. Are you a gang? The state is completely in the red today. Are they a gang because they are all dressed in red?”

Key dates in the Young Thug case

• May 9, 2022: Young Thug is booked into jail on charges of criminal gang activity.

• January 4, 2023: Jury selection in the RICO trial of Young Thug and his co-defendants begins.

• November 1, 2023: After several delays, a jury convenes.

• November 27, 2023: Opening statements begin.

• June 10: Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel accuses Judge Ural Glanville of holding a closed-door meeting without the defense present.

• July 15: A judge rules that Glanville must recuse himself.

• July 17: Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker is assigned to the case.

• October 23: Witness testimony that inadvertently contains information intended to be excluded from the jury is heard, triggering a possible mistrial.

• November 25: Closing arguments begin in the trial of remaining co-defendants Stillwell and Deamonte Kendrick.

• November 26: Jury deliberations begin.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had initially presented the case against Young Thug and his associates — accused of having ties to the national Bloods gang — as a way to combat the relentless violence in their south Atlanta neighborhood .

Willis, who would later come under scrutiny for her handling of the 2020 election case against Donald Trump and associates, was criticized by some for using lyrics in Young Thug songs and social media posts as evidence of gang activity.

Critics argue that the state’s RICO law was weaponized to specifically target black hip-hop artists, who they say should have the freedom to express themselves.

In July, the state’s case nearly unraveled when the original judge was ousted after holding a private meeting with prosecutors and a key witness that did not involve members of the defense. Defense attorneys lobbied unsuccessfully for a mistrial.

Then, in October, the trial was nearly disrupted again when a state witness accidentally received a social media message during testimony to read aloud with the unredacted nickname of two co-defendants that was intended to be redacted for the jury. The prosecutorial misstep raised the possibility of a mistrial, paving the way for Whitaker to see if prosecutors and defense attorneys could reach plea deals.

Four of the six co-suspects have reached an agreement. Young Thug was released from prison in a deal that saw his 40-year prison sentence commuted to a prison sentence and 15 years of probation.

Young Thug first achieved mainstream success with his 2014 drug anthem “Stoner,” collaborating with artists such as Travis Scott, Post Malone, Meek Mill and Drake. He also scored three No. 1 albums on the Billboard chart and won a 2019 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for co-writing Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”

The previous, longest criminal trial in Georgia lasted about eight months and involved Atlanta public school teachers accused of racketeering in a cheating scandal.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com