Rapper Young Thug accepts plea deal in Georgia RICO case

Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams, has agreed to a plea deal and changed his plea to guilty on gang charges in Fulton County, Georgia.

Williams pleaded guilty in court Thursday afternoon.

“Is it your decision to waive those rights and plead guilty because you are, in fact, guilty?” asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.

“Yes,” Williams said, before his attorney weighed in on one of the points.

The terms of the contract are unclear. ABC News has reached out to Williams' attorney, Brian Steel, for further comment.

Williams was initially charged on May 10, 2022, with conspiracy to violate the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gangs, along with charges of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a machine gun .

Before the agreement was reached, Williams had pleaded not guilty and his attorney had repeatedly told ABC News that his client was innocent of all charges.

During the racketeering trial, which began in November 2023 and was Georgia's longest-running trial to date, prosecutors alleged that the Grammy-winning rapper was known as the co-founder and “proclaimed leader” of an alleged criminal street gang in Fulton County, Georgia as “Young Slime Life” or “YSL”.

“The members and employees of YSL moved like a pack with Jeffrey Williams at the helm,” Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love claimed during opening statements.

Love alleged that YSL's alleged members committed “criminal street gang activity” – that is, crimes designed to further the purpose and policies of YSL itself.

“For 10 years, the group that called itself Young Slime Life dominated the Cleveland Avenue community in Fulton County,” Love said Monday. “And has created a crater in the middle of the Cleveland Avenue community in Fulton County that has sucked away the youth, the innocence and even the lives of some of its youngest members.”

The Grammy-winning rapper was charged in May 2022 in a sweeping RICO indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. He was among 28 people charged but stood trial alongside five defendants after many of the defendants reached plea deals while the judge ruled that others should be tried separately.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.