Young Thug RICO trial delayed after row with judge
Young Thug has been involved in a RICO case since 2022, when his crew, Young Slime Life, was accused of being a street crew involved in racketeering. However, it has once again been delayed due to a debacle involving the Fulton County judge, Ural Glanville.
Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, accused the judge of having a secret meeting with the witnesses and prosecutors ahead of testimonies. Although Glanville denies he acted improperly, he has insisted he will only remove himself from the case if the judge investigating him confirms his actions are evidence of misconduct.
Steel got into a heated argument after the meeting Glanville had with witness Kenneth Copeland. He then filed a motion asking for Glanville to be dismissed from the case claiming that it was unconstitutional.
Copeland would have been granted immunity if he had testified against Young Thug. As such, Steel, in his motion, described Glanville’s off-the-record rendezvous as an “unlawful, improper ex parte meeting.”
In a bid to put the row to rest, the Fulton County judge has promised tomake the transcripts from his meeting with the witness and prosecutors public. Still, Young Thug’s attorney is not satisfied and asserts that Glanville should be removed from the case regardless, as the meeting violated the rapper’s “constitutional and statutory rights.”
He further claimed that the rendezvous violates Thug’s “right to due process, a fair trial, a fair tribunal, ethical prosecutors and the right to be present at every critical stage of the proceedings under the Georgia Constitution.”
In the motion to dismiss Judge Granville from the trial, Steel accuses him of being “biased” towards the prosecution.
Steel was informed by an unnamed individual about the rendezvous and, after refusing to reveal who let him know about the secret meeting was arrested for being in contempt of court. Young Thug’s attorney was granted bond, pending the appeal of his contempt charge.
Last month, Steel’s own attorney released a statement saying, “We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father’s Day this weekend. We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation.”