Young Thug Praised By YSL Juror After RICO Trial: 'It Shined A Positive Light [On Him]'

Young Thug has been praised by a number of jurors who were a part of his lengthy YSL RICO trial.

Three jurors, numbers 225, 387 and 508, appeared on the YouTube channel I’m Not a Lawyer But… to speak about their experiences during the longest trial in Georgia state history.

One of the women said of Thug: “I honestly didn’t know anything about his music. And to be honest, the way that they presented him in his trial… They wanted him to look in this negative light.

“But I saw somebody who kinda pulled himself up, got himself out of the position that he was in and tried to help other people around. So it actually shined a more positive light in my eyes than what the state was trying to present.”

She added: “I wish him continued success with everything.”

Young Thug faced over half a dozen charges, including various gang, drug and gang offenses, and was accused of being the ringleader of a criminal street gang that terrorized Atlanta.

Jury foreman Jason Collins was also interviewed about the controversial trial by WSB-TV and admitted that he didn’t feel like the state had a strong enough case against Young Thug.

“I’m a facts person,” he said. “The turning point for me was, there was evidence that didn’t present itself. There was a lot of holes.”

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He added: “Of all the evidence, nothing was pointing to him directly. What was being presented by the state, from my observation, I didn’t see anything that could [convict] him.”

The juror also criticized prosecutors for using Thug’s lyrics against him as evidence: “I believe in freedom of speech, regardless of if we agree or disagree. It’s a very thin line to take lyrics and put them into trial.

“[Young Thug] is an artist, he’s expressing himself, and I think that weg o into a slippery slope when we start to analyze lyrics and music. That is something that I have to disagree with wholeheartedly. I personally don’t believe that lyrics should have been brought into the format.”

Collins further described the 13-month trial as “extremely long” and said that it caused the jury to put their entire lives “on hold,” noting that he and four other jurors lost somebody close to them during proceedings.

Jury foreman on whether he had heard enough evidence to find .@youngthug guilty of being the leader of a criminal street gang.
.@wsbtvpic.twitter.com/kstWzuGpeh

— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) December 3, 2024

Young Thug was released from jail on October 31 after accepting a plea deal, which resulted in him being sentenced to time served and 15 years’ probation.

The YSL trial as a whole finally came to an end earlier this week when the two remaining defendants, Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick and Shannon “SB” Stillwell were also freed.

Gotti, who is also a rapper signed to YSL, was acquitted of all charges, including murder. Stillwell was cleared of all charges except for possession of a firearm.

The case dated back to May 2022 when Young Thug and Gunna, along with 26 others, were indicted as part of a RICO investigation into their YSL crew.