The latest twist in Young Thug’s lengthy extortion trial saw his own defense team jailed for the next 10 weekends for refusing to tell the judge how he learned about a privileged conversation.
Attorney Brian Steel somehow learned of a conversation between Judge Ural Glanville, prosecutors and Kenneth Copeland, one of the state’s star witnesses, the Constitution of the Atlanta newspaper reported.
Steel and Glanville got into a heated dispute with each other in open court on Monday, beginning with Steel confronting the judge about this alleged secret meeting in the judge’s courtroom Monday morning.
The judge said the conversation was ex parte, meaning it was only for the parties involved, but Steel argued that Young Thug and himself had a right to be in that meeting under the Georgia Constitution.
Steel wanted to know what happened at the meeting, but the judge quickly redirected the conversation to how Steel found out about the meeting. To which, Steel refused to tell him.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is seen sitting in a gray sweater as his attorney Brian Steel, right, is detained by a judicial officer.
Steel is escorted out after Judge Ural Glanville ordered him to spend the next 10 weekends in jail for contempt of court.
‘I’m asking you, how did you get this information?’ Glanville asked Steel, who was standing at the lectern.
“I won’t tell the court,” Steel responded, and then requested a mistrial for this.
The conversation hit a dead end from there and Glanville ordered the sheriff to take Steel into custody.
“You have information that you should not have received,” Glanville told the rapper’s lawyer.
“You’re not supposed to have communication with a sworn witness,” Steel said, referring to Copeland, who was sworn in Friday.
Steel was ordered to report to the Fulton County Jail by 7 p.m. Friday for 10 weekends, for a total of 20 days.
Judge Ural Granville told Steel he must report to the Fulton County Jail by 7 p.m. Friday for 10 weekends, for a total of 20 days.
At the opening of the racketeering trial in November 2023, prosecutors said Young Thug, real name Jeffery Lamar Williams, 32, used his record label Young Stoner Life (YSL) as a front for ‘Young Slime Life,’ a gang street gang affiliated with the Los Angeles-based Bloods Gang.
Organized crime refers to acquiring a business illegally, running a business with illegally obtained finances, or using a business to violate the law.
Basically, the claim is that Young Stoner Life and Young Slime Life were the same.
This YSL gang allegedly recruited young people around Young Thug to commit crimes of murder, assault, car theft, drug trafficking and robbery since 2013.
Young Thug was arrested in May of last year in Atlanta’s exclusive Buckhead neighborhood and has remained in custody since then.
The original indictment against gang members, including Young Thug, is a sweeping list of 181 crimes that prosecutors say were committed as part of the alleged RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) conspiracy to further the interests of the gang. gang.
Copeland, also known as Lil Woody, signed to Young Stoner Life as a rapper and spent the weekend behind bars after refusing to testify on Friday, the Journal Constitution reported.
Young Thug, pictured in a 2021 Facebook post, allegedly oversaw dozens of crimes as the leader of his group Young Slime Life.
Georgia State’s Attorney Adriane Love told the court that the Grammy Award winner stockpiled drugs, cars and guns as his followers competed for favor by murdering, robbing and kidnapping in a decades-long spree.
Copeland initially did not want to testify and, maintaining his reluctant attitude, dodged most of the prosecution’s questions before Monday’s lunch break, which is when Steel said he learned of the conversation that ultimately led to Glanville jailing him. .
Once court officials removed Steel from the courtroom, Young Thug’s other attorney, Keith Adams, said he did not want to continue without him.
“You are removing me against his will, mine, and you are taking away his right to a lawyer,” Steel said as he left.
Glanville responded by saying he “doesn’t have that luxury” and ordered him to defend his client without Steel’s help.
“You can’t blackmail the court,” Glanville said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
He added that the leak of information was a ‘violation of the sacrosanctity (sic) of the judge’s office.’
Steel was eventually allowed to return to the trial at the insistence of lead prosecutor Adriane Love.
Then a lawyer for Shannon Stillwell, one of six co-defendants in the RICO case, asked the judge to release a transcript of the conversation she had with prosecutors and Copeland.
Max Schardt said everyone should have been included in the conversation, but Glanville said he needed to go through the appeals process.
Cameras captured Williams’ arrest in May of last year and his booking into the Fulton County Jail.
Nicole Fegan, the attorney representing rapper Young Thug’s defendant in his sensational racketeering trial, was arrested on gang charges months before Steel’s contempt arrest.
“All I ask for is a little sunlight,” Schardt said. ‘We would like the transcript… We are trying this case right now to win it. We’re not playing for an appeal. We would like to have a fair shot at this case right now.
Schardt added that an appeal could take decades.
Marietta attorney Ashleigh Merchant, president of the Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, spoke with the Journal Constitution and revealed that she represents Steel in his efforts to be released from custody.
Merchant has represented lawyers found guilty of contempt of court for at least 10 years as part of his legal group’s “strike force” team.
“We don’t agree with this,” Merchant said. ‘We are not going to let this happen to our brother, who was simply doing his job… This is not how defenders should be treated. It’s hard enough being a criminal defense attorney and we shouldn’t be threatened with jail time.
Young Thug, right, with fellow rapper Gunna in 2019
Arriving at the Fulton courthouse along with two dozen other Atlanta attorneys defending Steel, Merchant asked that Glanville recuse himself from Steel’s contempt case.
This nightmarish labyrinth of controversy that Steel has fallen into is not the first and probably will not be the last, as the trial is expected to continue until 2025.
Jury selection began on January 4, 2023 and lasted 10 months. Monday marked the 88th day of the trial, which has been marred by repeated delays.
Steel is not even the first of the lawyers representing the YSL defendants to face serious legal problems.
Nicole Fegan, who represented Tenquarius Mender, was arrested in February on charges of engaging “in criminal street gang activity and criminal solicitation to commit the crime of tampering with evidence,” according to the district attorney’s office.
Young Thug faces up to 20 years in prison against the same Fulton County team that is also prosecuting former President Donald Trump under the same racketeering laws.