Young Thug‘s lawyer Brian Steel has managed to avoid jail after he was arrested during the YSL RICO trial for being in contempt of court.
The long-running and controversial case took another twist earlier this week when Steel was arrested in the courtroom for confronting Judge Ural Glanville about a private conversation reportedly held between Glanville, prosecutors and one of the state’s star witnesses before a court hearing.
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After initially being sentenced to 10 weekends in jail, Steel has now been granted bond pending his appeal of the contempt charge, meaning he will no longer have to report to jail on Friday (June 14).
Steel’s own attorney celebrated the legal victory in a statement, saying: “We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father’s Day this weekend. We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation.”
Just in: Young Thug's lawyer Brian Steel has been granted bond pending his appeal of Judge Glanville's contempt order.
The Georgia Supreme Court granted his emergency motion and he will not have to report to jail on Friday. pic.twitter.com/HVkJ4Ef5uH
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) June 12, 2024
"We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father's Day this weekend. We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation," Brian Steel's attorney Ashleigh Merchant said in a statement to @ajc. #YSL#YoungThughttps://t.co/Fwt1kGrqsY
— Jozsef Papp (@JozsefPapp_) June 12, 2024
Brian Steel’s row with Judge Glanville began after the attorney found out about a private meeting between the judge, the prosecution and a witness.
Steel refused to tell the judge who had told him about the meeting and in dramatic scenes had the lawyer arrested, all of which was caught on a courtroom livestream.
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“You can purge that contempt just by telling who it is that told you that information. That’s all I need to know,” Glanville said to Steel, who refused to name names based on a duty of confidentiality.
Steel also said he wanted to spend his jail time with his client Young Thug to continue preparing their defense against the RICO charges.
In another dramatic moment from this week, the witness at the heart of Steel’s row with Glanville, Kenneth Copeland, refused to testify despite previously securing an immunity deal. He also subsequently fired his attorney while on the witness stand.
“She fired. “I don’t want her,” Copeland said after being asked how he wanted to proceed, with the lawyer also saying she wanted to quit.
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While on the stand, Copeland took the fifth amendment to even the most simple questions such as, “How old are you?”
After he refused to comply, the judge held him in willful contempt of court since the prosecution had already offered him an immunity deal in exchange for his testimony against Thug.
