Young Thug accepted a plea deal last month in what has become the longest criminal trial in Georgia history — but the YSL case is not yet done.
Pre-trial hearings began this week for the four remaining defendants in a controversial case that has fascinated people locally and beyond due to its duration, various hiccups, and the association of Atlanta hip-hop artists Gunna (legal name: Sergio Kitchens) and Young Thug (Jeffery Lamar Williams), who were indicted as alleged members of the Young Slime Life gang.
Prosecutors said last month that they hope to begin trial for the four remaining defendants — Christian Eppinger, Damekion Garlington, Demise McMullen, and Tenquarius Mender — on Feb. 24.
On Monday, Mender entered a guilty plea that resulted in a 10-year sentence with time served and five years on probation. Eppinger on Monday declined a plea deal that would have given him life in prison. If he is convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to two life sentences plus 100 years.
The remaining defendants, who did not reach or accept pleas from the Fulton County district attorney’s office at their most recent court date on Dec. 17, are the last to be tried of the 28 men who were named in the initial indictment nearly three years ago.
Young Thug, Gunna, and their 26 co-defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act because of their alleged affiliation with Young Slime Life and accused of committing dozens of crimes — including murder and aggravated assault — to support the gang.
Prosecutors painted Young Thug as the gang’s ringleader; his avoidance of incarceration aside from time served has widely been seen as a blow to Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office has spent a great deal of resources trying to get a conviction. This is the second racketeering case to go off the rails for Willis, who was removed from former President Donald Trump’s alleged election interference case late last year.
Here is a primer on how the YSL case has played out and where things currently stand.
What are the remaining YSL defendants’ charges?
The charges against each of the remaining defendants are as follows:
Christian Eppinger
- Armed robbery
- Attempted murder (two counts)
- Conspiracy to commit a crime
- Conspiracy to violate the RICO Act
- Felony theft by taking
- First degree hijacking of a motor vehicle
- Participation in a criminal street gang activity (three counts)
- Possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer (three counts)
- Possession of a firearm during a felony (two counts)
Damekion Garlington
- Attempted murder
- Conspiracy to violate the RICO Act
- Murder
- Participation in a criminal street gang activity (four counts)
- Possession of a firearm during a felony
Demise McMullen
- Conspiracy to violate the RICO Act
- Murder
Mender had been charged with conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, possession of a weapon by an incarcerated individual, possession of a telecommunication device by an incarcerated individual, and participation in criminal street gang activity. He pleaded guilty to his two possession charges and entered an Alford plea on violating the RICO act and participation in criminal gang activity.
How did we get here?
First announced in May 2022, the YSL trial has made headlines as one of three major racketeering cases brought in Fulton County in the past few years — along with a case against Stop Cop City protesters and the aforementioned case against Trump.
The prosecution drew criticism after offering rap lyrics from songs by Young Thug and Gunna as evidence of criminal activity. Meanwhile, the defense maintained that lyrics are forms of artistic expression and YSL merely stands for Young Stoner Life, the name of Thug’s Atlantic Records-distributed imprint that has signed multiple rappers, including Gunna and other co-defendants.
(Months after the indictment was announced, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill limiting the use of rap lyrics in court.)
After seven months in jail, Gunna accepted an Alford plea in December 2022, which allowed him to avoid admitting guilt while acknowledging there is enough evidence for a conviction. He was sentenced to time served and 500 hours of community service.
Fulton Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville presided over jury selection, which took 10 months, and the first two-thirds of the trial. However, when attorneys for the defendants found out that Glanville, the prosecution, and a witness had a meeting in June 2024 without the defense attorneys present, they filed a motion for Glanville to recuse himself, which he denied.
The defense attorneys appealed Glanville’s decision and were awarded a recusal by another judge, who ordered the case reassigned to Judge Shukura L. Ingram, who recused herself 48 hours after being assigned to the case because one of the deputies in her courtroom is in a romantic relationship with one of the defendants. The clerk then assigned the trial to Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who has remained the presiding judge.
After 12 months of trial, Young Thug pleaded guilty in October to six charges (including three counts of violating Georgia’s controlled substances act and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony) and no contest to participation in gang activity and violating the RICO Act. Three other defendants accepted plea deals from the prosecutor’s office on the same day.
Young Thug avoided jail time when Whitaker sentenced him to five years — commuted to time served — and 15 years on probation, with the condition that he stays away from metro Atlanta for the first 10 years.
The judge decided to “back load” the 20-year sentence that is mandatory for any guilty plea or verdict on a RICO charge. As long as Young Thug doesn’t violate the conditions of his release and isn’t rearrested, the 20-year sentence will be commuted to time served at the end of his 15-year probation.
The YSL case nears an end
On Dec. 3, the last two defendants being tried with Young Thug were found not guilty on RICO, gang, and murder charges. A few days later, prosecutors dropped charges against six of the remaining 11 defendants.
Yak Gotti (Deamonte Kendrick), another rapper signed to YSL, was acquitted on all charges. Shannon Stillwell, the other defendant, was found guilty on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Stillwell was released on 12 years probation after accepting a plea deal on other charges and was ordered by the judge to stay away from metro Atlanta for the first five years.
Yak Gotti, the only defendant to be found not guilty on all charges, remains incarcerated due to new charges he is facing stemming from a fight in Fulton County Jail.
A fifth defendant, Miles Farley, entered an Alford plea on one count of violating the RICO Act and was sentenced to five years probation. Four other charges, including murder, were dropped against Farley.
This story has been updated.
