Young Thug has once again been denied bond in his ongoing YSL RICO case, and will remain behind bars for the remainder of the trial.
Judge Ural Glanville made the decision on Friday (July 21). The update was reported by Law&Crime reporter Cathy Russon, who tweeted that the judge has yet to seat a single juror despite jury selection starting in January.
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When the trial does eventually begin, it’s expected to last between six and nine months.
Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel argued that his client should be freed due to health issues, as he had previously been taken to a hospital back in May. Steel also argued that Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) does not pose a flight risk.
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However, Judge Glanville expressed concern that he may be a danger to the community, citing allegations in the RICO indictment, and denied his motion for bond.
The Atlanta rapper was denied bond for a third time last August for similar reasons.
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During the bond hearing, the prosecution also brought up threatening texts that Young Thug had allegedly sent to a woman in 2010. “Snitch hoes get murked. Them and their kids,” the texts, which were reported to police, allegedly read.
Thug’s legal team denied that the message ever existed.
Bond DENIED for #YoungThug. He will remain behind bars for the trial. Jury selection began in January. They have yet to seat a juror. Once the trial finally begins it is expected to last 6-9 months. #YSLpic.twitter.com/hyM2mcnILM
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) July 21, 2023
Bond hearing for #YoungThug. Prosecutor: A person very close to Thug called the police and said Thug messaged her "Snitch hoes get murked. Them and their kids"
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) July 21, 2023
Judge Glanville asks when this message was sent. Prosecutor says 2010. #YoungThug attorney gets up and says that message never existed.
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) July 21, 2023
The update comes shortly after court documents obtained by HipHopDX revealed that Young Thug’s attorney Biran Steel filed a motion earlier in July “to exclude any and all recorded jail calls” from testimony, saying it violated the “Confrontation Clause.”
Steel claimed that any calls made from behind bars have members of law enforcement sitting in and listening on them, which can then be used in other criminal prosecutions. This suggests — though does not definitively confirm — that these conversations are incriminating in nature, which is why Steel wants them excluded from the record.
Steel previously filed two other motions in limine on behalf of Young Thug. These motions argued that Detective Quinn, who is a witness for the prosecution, will be falsely representing that the rapper snitched to the detective in an unrelated murder case.
Therefore, Steel requested that Judge Ural Glanville exclude Detective Quinn’s testimony, claiming it’s “not accurate, places Mr. Williams’ character at issue, and is irrelevant to the trial of the above referenced case.”
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Judge Glanville has yet to rule on any of these motions, including one filed by Steel which sought to dismiss the RICO charges entirely against his client and all YSL co-defendants due to the statute of limitations.
Thugga recently dropped off his third studio album, Business Is Business from behind bars, followed by a Metro Boomin revamp a few days later.
