A former co-defendant in the YSL trial testified that Young Thug and five others on trial were members of the Young Slime Life gang.
On Monday, Trontavious Stephens, a former co-defendant who reached a plea deal, took the stand again in the Georgia courtroom. He was asked by the prosecution: “Which of these defendants in this courtroom, right now, are members of YSL, Young Slime Life, the gang?”
“All of them,” Stephens replied, before referring to each of the men standing trial by their nicknames.
The defence team has argued that YSL is simply a music label that stands for Young Stoner Life, contradicting prosecutors’ claims that YSL is a gang that stands for Young Slime Life.
Stephens has been on the stand for the past week. The former co-defendant previously testified that he was one of the YSL founders — and that Jeffery Williams, Young Thug’s real name, was another.
To make matters confusing, last week, Stephens testified, “I was the founder of the music [label]...So I committed crimes while being a part of YSL.”
When the prosecutor Adriane Love tried to clarify if Stephens was referring to YSL the gang, he said, “No, just YSL.”
Young Thug in court on Monday, 4 December, wearing a sweater with a wolf design.— (Law & Crime Trial Network)
He then seemed to suggest that the illegal acts he committed made it appear that YSL was a gang: “So I committed crimes while being a part of YSL, so by me committing crimes while being a part of YSL, that was the basis to say that YSL was a gang.”
Stephens also previously testified that he was a member of the gang “ROC Crew,” which stands for Raised On Cleveland, a street in Atlanta. However, he said none of the other defendants on trial were members, explaining: “No one in this courtroom was originally raised on Cleveland.”
Stephens took a plea deal in December 2022, in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO Act. He has expressed reluctance to answer the prosecution’s questions in a forthright manner, causing some tension between him and the prosecutors.
Ms Love also pressed last week as to why he allegedly took a meeting with the defence team but refused to take one with her team. “I never declined speaking with you,” he said, claiming that his lawyer wasn’t present when she wanted to talk.
Officially the longest criminal trial in the state’s history, the case has had no shortage of viral moments.
A video of Mr Williams’s lawyer circulated after he argued that his client’s song “pushin P” stood for “pushing positivity.”
The rapper himself made headlines when he boasted a wolf-emblazoned sweater after the prosecution described him as the leader of the “pack” and made references to the Jungle Book: “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.”
The trial has also suffered from a series of delays. The trial resumed in early January after a co-defendant was stabbed in jail in mid-December, putting the trial on hold for weeks.
The case began after nearly a year-long jury selection process.
Finally, the trial kicked off — but was almost immediately hit by speed bumps after the faces of jurors sitting in the front row were exposed on camera, prompting concern from attorneys and jurors alike.
Still, the trial carried on.
