Gunna was seen smiling as he was released from Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Wednesday, December 14, after pleading guilty to one charge of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. On Tuesday, December 13, it was reported that Young Thug had been hit with a charge of street racing, on top of the charges he already faces as part of a 56-count grand jury indictment brought against him, Gunna and 26 other YSL members in May.
Semi-lost in this week’s developments surrounding Gunna and Young Thug is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s report that alleged YSL co-founder Walter Murphy also pled guilty ahead of next month’s YSL RICO trial, which is expected to call “around 300 witnesses” to testify.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution cited court documents and relayed that Murphy “was sentenced to 10 years, with one year commuted to time served and nine years of probation” as a result of his plea deal. Murphy will also be required to perform 300 hours of community service. “A special condition of probation is that Murphy ‘testify truthfully in any further trial as it may become necessary re: State of Georgia and the other individuals’ named in the indictment,” the publication relayed.
Gunna’s plea deal in the YSL case is interesting bc of his artistic stature/the implications moving forward but the OTHER guilty plea this week, by alleged YSL co-founder Walter Murphy, aka DK, is more instructive about how these RICO cases work pic.twitter.com/eVPmWWSWlB
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 15, 2022
but the violent crimes he’s tied to in the indictment, including an attempted murder from 2015… he's already been convicted of and served time for!
he’s not mentioned past 2015 bc he was in prison for ~7 years & had just gotten out on parole when the YSL indictment dropped
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 15, 2022
guilty pleas—to avoid serving more time for essentially the same acts—mean that prosecutors can now use testimony from guys like DK & Gunna to prove the foundation of the case: that YSL is a gang & therefore anything its self-professed members do to further the cause = conspiracy
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 15, 2022
That last bit starkly contrasts Gunna’s statement upon entering his Alford plea. The DS4EVER rapper said, in part, that he has “NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.”
seven months later, during what was shaping up to be the biggest year of his career by far
as part of the plea, Gunna will do 500 hours of community service, including 350 hours with "young men and women about the hazards and immorality of gangs and gang violence" https://t.co/wjnDdS6eoc
— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) December 14, 2022
Gunna was sentenced to five years with one served in prison, with his one-year sentence commuted to time served and the remaining four years suspended but “subject to special conditions including 500 hours of community service,” per WSB-TV.
Young Thug, meanwhile, remains incarcerated. He made his first court appearance since Gunna’s release and seemed to be in good spirits, grinning and wearing a suit.
Young Thug makes first appearance in court following the release of Gunna on a plea deal https://t.co/lqUWneTeTY
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) December 15, 2022
Jury selection for YSL’s RICO trial is scheduled for January 4, and the trial is scheduled to begin on January 9.
Gunna and Young Thug are Warner Music artists. .
