After prosecutors requested a postponement in the YSL RICO case, Young Thug demanded bail and a swift trial. The trial was supposed to start in January, but prosecutors asked the court to move it to March. Brian Steel, Young Thug's attorney, expressed outrage and demanded that his client be released on bond.
“It is unjust that [Young Thug] rots in the County Jail and has not yet been provided complete discovery by the prosecution and is being required to wait on the appointment of counsel for co-indictees,” Steel explained. “This Honorable Court must intervene to prevent this injustice.”
Steel added, “It is unconscionable that the District Attorney’s Office did not provide the Court system with notice that there would be a great need for appointed counsel on an upcoming case well in advance of the return of the indictment.”
Young Thug was refused release three times by a jury, each time citing safety concerns voiced by the prosecution. The 31-year-old rapper, whose actual name is Jeffery Williams, has been imprisoned since his arrest in May.
Among other things, Young Thug and more than two dozen YSL members are facing racketeering accusations. Prosecutors, according to Young Thug's lawyer, are postponing the trial in order to keep his client behind bars.
“The prosecution continues to use this trial date as a weapon to keep Mr. Williams in custody,” Steel contended. “All of these factors weigh against denying Mr. Williams bond even though he has proven to this Honorable Court that he would be under total house arrest: electronic ankle monitor with law enforcement officers standing guard outside of his home 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Yet, no bond can be set?”
Steel concluded, “This is wrong and not the way that we treat people in America, the State of Georgia and Fulton County. Something must change.”