A defendant in the racketeering and gang conspiracy case against the Atlanta rapper Young Thug and members of his YSL crew agreed to a plea deal in court on Tuesday.
Five defendants including Young Thug -- born Jeffery Williams -- remain, as the case sits in limbo following a motion for a mistrial and a multiday pause stemming from an evidence mishap during witness testimony last week.
Mr. Williams, 33, stands charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, and participation in criminal street gang activity, along with six counts related to the possession of weapons and controlled substances. He has pleaded not guilty.
The sprawling trial, in which 28 men were initially charged, had already become the longest in Georgia's history after extended logistical complications, recurring courtroom dramas, the removal of one judge, the appointment of another, and a jail stabbing. Jury selection for the case, which was first charged in May 2022, began in January 2023 and lasted some 10 months, with opening arguments having taken place last November.
On Tuesday, after more than three days of trial delays as potential mid-trial deals were considered, the YSL defendant Quamarvious Nichols agreed to a negotiated guilty plea to one count, conspiracy to violate RICO. As a result, prosecutors said they would recommend a 20-year prison sentence, with seven served in person and the balance on probation.
The judge overseeing the case, Paige Reese Whitaker, accepted the plea without the jury present, adjourning court for the remainder of the day. A lawyer for Mr. Williams did not respond to a request for comment regarding any ongoing plea negotiations.
The remaining six counts against Mr. Nichols, known as Qua -- including participation in criminal street gang activity, multiple gun charges and a 2022 murder related to a gang war -- were dismissed. He had faced life in prison.
Those still being tried alongside Mr. Williams include Marquavius Huey (also known as Qua); Deamonte Kendrick (the rapper known as Yak Gotti); Rodalius Ryan (or Lil Rod); and Shannon Stillwell (known as SB or Shannon Jackson). All are charged with violating the RICO law.
The complex and at times theatrical trial has revolved around the prosecution's contention that Mr. Williams led YSL, or Young Slime Life, as not just his record label but a violent gang, overseeing a criminal conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, witness intimidation and drug dealing.
The Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, brought the wide-ranging case under the same Georgia criminal racketeering law that she used to indict former President Donald J. Trump and others in what prosecutors call a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
Lawyers for Mr. Williams have argued that YSL is not a gang but a successful hip-hop collective that portrays a gangster image in its music and videos because it is commercially beneficial.
The trial in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Ga., was derailed last week after a slip-up by the prosecution involving a piece of evidence that had not been properly redacted for a witness.
During the state's questioning of Wunnie Lee, a rapper performing as SlimeLife Shawty who accepted a negotiated plea in the case in December 2022, one of the prosecutors asked him to read aloud the hashtags on a social media post that was brought forward as evidence. But Mr. Lee's printed copy of the post was not properly redacted, leading him to read aloud a hashtag -- "free Qua" -- that should have been suppressed from the jury because it implied prejudicial information against the defendants.
Two of the defendants, Mr. Nichols and Mr. Huey, go by the nickname Qua, and their lawyers initially requested a mistrial, arguing that the hashtag could suggest to jurors that they had already spent time in jail.
Judge Whitaker denied the requests for a mistrial without the opportunity for a retrial, saying she believed that the prosecution had made a sloppy mistake rather than an intentional disclosure to the jury.
The judge said she would consider whether a less serious measure -- a mistrial that would allow the prosecution to try the defendants again -- was warranted, but the proceedings were abruptly put on pause, leading to private plea negotiations.
"What I'm trying to do is fix your sloppiness so that everybody won't have wasted 10, 12 months of their lives in this trial," Judge Whitaker told the prosecution on Wednesday. She added, "I am sorry y'all have, you know, this gigantic, ginormous universe of evidence that maybe if you narrowed down, you would not be making these kind of mistakes."
Judge Whitaker has repeatedly denied defense motions for a mistrial since she was appointed to the case, replacing another judge this summer.
But the most recent disruption followed an incident last week, in which another witness for the prosecution mentioned offhandedly the fact that another defendant had been in prison. As a result, the judge barred the witness, a former Atlanta police detective, from returning to the witness stand and disqualified his testimony from jury consideration.
