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Young Thug has been denied bail for a fourth time based on text messages showing intimidation of witnesses while awaiting trial on gang charges in a sweeping RICO indictment.
Rapper Young Thug was Bail denied on Friday during a hearing in Atlanta while awaiting trial on gang charges in Fulton County, Georgia. This is the fourth time he has been denied bail in the case arising out of a full RICO indictment.
During Friday’s hearing, rapper Brian Steel’s attorney argued his client was not at risk of absconding and that he had been struggling with health issues since his arrest on May 9 last year. The young thug, real name Jeffery Williams, was hospitalized during a court hearing in May, but his lawyer declined to comment on his condition when asked by reporters.
Judge Ural Glanville has expressed his belief that the rapper’s release would pose a threat to the community and Williams’ alleged history of witness intimidation.
“Lord. Williams has no risk of committing a crime and there is no risk of him escaping jurisdiction and that’s what bail is about,” Steel told ABC News in a phone interview after filing his fourth bail request on April 24.
In the latest filing, Steel alleged that his client has restricted physical activity or exposure to sunlight, is unable to eat nutritious food and suffers from sleep deprivation because he has to get up at 3 or 4 a.m. on the days he is due to appear in court, and that he “struggles to pay attention to what is going on in his case.” Steel told reporters that these conditions impacted his client’s ability to prepare for his trial.
The Grammy-winning rapper was denied bail three times in the past year after his arrest in May 2022 and has been charged with eight counts of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, involvement in street gang criminal activity, violating the state’s narcotics law, possession of a firearm while committing a crime and possession of a machine gun.
“These charges are significant because they are directed at 28 individuals who decided to join a criminal street gang and wreak real havoc in our community,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a May 2022 news conference announcing the mass indictment. “This chaos includes violent crime, theft and drug offenses.”
Young Thug has pleaded not guilty to all eight counts and is facing trial along with nine other co-defendants.