Jailed rapper Young Thug was shocked when video of a nude man appeared on screens during his pre-trial hearing in Fulton County on Thursday afternoon.
The rapper’s pre-trial hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville was his first in-court appearance since his arrest in May on multiple state RICO charges.
The hearing was delayed by several hours due to technical difficulties Thursday morning. When the pre-trial hearing finally got under way at 1:45 p.m., a nude man appeared during a Zoom conference call with the message “Free Young Thug” on all the screens in the courtroom.
Young Thug, real name Jeffery Williams, and his attorney, Brian Steel, looked stunned as deputies rushed to turn off the screens in the courtroom.
It was later determined that someone on the Zoom conference call shared the X-rated video on their screen.
Williams, who is set to go on trial next month for gang and RICO charges, won a huge victory when Judge Glanville granted his attorney’s request to suppress evidence seized from his Sandy Springs home during a raid in 2015.
Glanville chastised the prosecution, saying, “You didn’t have the right to keep that particular evidence.”
Prosecutor Adriane Love argued that the state planned to introduce that evidence against Williams in his upcoming trial.
Williams was among 20 YSL co-defendants brought into the courtroom on Thursday. Other co-defendants attended the hearing via the Zoom conference call.
The hearing came one day after fellow rapper Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) was released from the Fulton County Jail after pleading guilty to a single RICO charge.
Prosecutors argued that YSL is a gang and Williams is one of its leaders and founders. But his defense attorneys claim YSL is just a record label.
However, Gunna confirmed YSL is a gang during his plea deal statement on Wednesday. Gunna also acknowledged he was a member of YSL since 2016, and he had “personal knowledge” of the gang’s criminal activity.
Gunna’s defense attorney Steve Sadow insisted his client is not a snitch in an Instagram post on Thursday.
“Gunna did not snitch to get out of jail. He has said nothing and is not cooperating,” Sadow said emphatically. “His plea statement cannot be used in court against any other defendants. So please stop spreading lies!”
