Who are the alleged YSL gang members?
MULTIPLE rappers were arrested in May 2022 and accused of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
One of the names who found themselves behind bars due to the allegations was Jeffery Lamar Williams, known professionally as Young Thug.
Who are the alleged YSL gang members?
On May 9, 2022, Young Thug was arrested along with 28 others and accused of being the leader of a gang court documents refer to as "Young Slime Life" or YSL for short.
Other prominent names on the list were Sergio Kitchens, known professionally as Gunna, and aspiring rapper Christian Eppinger, according to .
Other alleged members include:
- Kahlieff Adams aka "Bobby Hunt"
- Martinez Arnold aka "Duke"
- Derontae Bebee aka "Bee" or "B"
- Damone Blalock aka "Bail"
- Javaris Bradford aka " Tuda"
- Justin Cobb aka "Duwap"
- Cordarius Dorsey aka "Polo" or "Juicy"
- Miles Farley aka "Slato" or "Lil Miles"
- Jevon Fleetwood aka "4tray" or "Psycho"
- Damekion Garlington aka "Dee" or "Sxarfaxe"
- Quantavious Grier aka "Unfoonk"
- Marquavius Huey aka "Qua"
- Deamonte Kendrick aka "Yak Gotti"
- Wunnie Lee aka "Slimelife Shawty"
- Demise McMullen aka "Nard"
- Tenquarius Mender aka "Stunna"
- Walter Murphy aka "DK"
- Jayden Myrick aka "SetTrip" or "JayMan"
- Quamarvious Nichols aka "Qua"
- Rodalius Ryan aka "Lil Rod"
- Antonio Sledge aka "Mounk Tounk"
- Trontavious Stephens aka "Tick" or "Slug"
- Shannon Stillwell aka "Shannon Jackson" or "SB"
- Antonio Sumlin aka "Obama"
- Jimmy Winfrey aka "Roscoe"
Walter Murphy and Trontavious Stephen were also listed alongside Young Thug as alleged founders of the gang, Fox5 Atlanta notes.
Many of these alleged gang members are reportedly signed to Young Thug's YSL Records label, which was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2010.
What is YSL accused of doing?
Members of YSL have been accused of several things ranging from murder to theft and drug possession.
The group allegedly "conspired to associate and with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity and conducting and participating in the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity," according to an indictment obtained by Fox5.
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Young Thug himself was charged with participation in criminal street activity and conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, charges his lawyers have denied.
"Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever," his lawyer Brian Steel said, adding that he will "fight till his last drop of blood to clear him."
Gunna was also accused of conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO act and was later arrested on May 11, 2022.
"It does not matter what your notoriety is or what your fame is," Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at a news conference.
"If you come to Fulton County, Georgia and you commit crimes - and certainly if those crimes are in furtherance of a street gang - then you will become a target and focus of this district attorney's office and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
Jury selection in the YSL RICO case began in January 2023 and has continued through April, but with only 14 defendants.
Several people, including Gunna, have since taken plea deals to avoid going to trial.
Gunna became a free man in December 2022 after he accepted an Alford plea.
"I have chosen to end my own RICO case with an Alford plea and end my personal ordeal by publicly acknowledging my association with YSL," the rapper said in a written statement provided to .
";An Alford plea in my case is the entry of a guilty plea to the one charge against me, which is in my best interest, while at the same time maintaining my innocence toward the same charge."
Fellow rappers Slimelife Shawty, Lil Duke, Walter Murphy, Quantavious Grier, and Antonio Sledge, have also taken plea deals, according to .
What are RICO charges?
In 1970, the United States Government signed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), making it a federal law.
The legislation, signed by President Richard Nixon, explicitly aimed to combat organized crime across the United States.
Individual states have also made their own laws in terms of RICO, which is what Young Thug and other alleged YSL members are charged with.
Some of the crimes that are covered under the act include acts of threats involving arson, bribery, homicide, kidnapping, money laundering, murder-for-hire, wire fraud, and witness tampering.
Prior to Young Thug's case, one of the biggest RICO cases under the federal statute happened in 2015 when FIFA bosses, sports marketing executives, and the owner of a broadcasting corporation were accused of "racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, in connection with the defendants' participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer," according to the .
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As a result of those charges, FIFA received more than $200million from the government in August 2021, reports.
Other notorious federal RICO cases include the outlawed motorcycle mob, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and the Cowboy Mafia.