Jeffery Lamar Williams, otherwise known as world famous rapper Young Thug, currently stands with five other co-defendants at the center of a racketeering trial. The crimes in question center around the defendants’ alleged involvement in Young Slime Life, an Atlanta-based gang connected to the Bloods. But a former defendant’s recent testimony might have left the jury with more questions than answers.

Young Thug and his other co-defendants are being prosecuted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williams – the same woman who is prosecuting President Trump. In both cases, she is relying on Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, or RICO. This statute means prosecutors can win a case by persuading a jury the defendants are guilty by association rather than guilty of committing specific crimes. The Young Thug case is being closely watched, not only because it’s the novel prosecution of a famous rap star using his lyrics as evidence, but also because of the case’s similarity to The State of Georgia vs. Donald J. Trump.

Prosecutors say Mr. Williams is the leader of YSL, the gang, but his lawyers say the only ‘YSL’ he is involved with is his Atlanta-based record label, Young Stoner Life Records. Prosecutors are hoping Trontavious Stephens’ testimony will convince the jury of Young Thug’s gang involvement.

Stephens, who also goes by the nicknames “Tick” and “Slug,” is a former defendant in the YSL case. He originally faced up to 20 years on a single RICO count, but his December 2022 plea deal, in which he agreed to testify against Mr. Williams, meant he would only have to serve eight years of probation in exchange for lesser charges. The deal also stipulated that he had to testify truthfully, although his co-defendants’ attorneys argue that the chance to dodge 20 years in prison would give anyone an incentive to lie.

In his signed plea deal, Mr. Stephens said he was one of the founding members of the criminal street gang YSL and said he was a member of the Roccrew or “Raised on Cleveland” gang which, at that point in time, went by the name YSL, instead.

But his statements in court have been a little less clear. 

When prosecutor Adriane Love asked Mr. Stephens about the difference between YSL the gang and YSL the music label, Mr. Stephens initially said that the label was built upon positivity and the gang was built upon negativity. Then, he said he was “the founder of the music (label)” and “committed crimes while being a part of YSL.” When Ms. Love asked him to clarify which YSL he was referring to, his answers were confusing, to say the least:

“YSL who? Young Slime Life?” Ms. Love asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Stephens answered.

“The gang?” Ms. Love pressed.

“No, just YSL,” Mr. Stephens said.

When Ms. Love clarified that she was asking Mr. Stephens about Young Slime Life, the gang, Mr. Stephens said the following:

“I am trying to answer the question… “So I committed crimes while being a part of YSL, so by me committing crimes while being a part of YSL, that was basis to say that YSL was a gang.”

Later in the trial, Mr. Stephens seemingly gave prosecutors more of what they were looking for when he confirmed that “all” of the defendants in the courtroom – including Young Thug – were members of the gang YSL, or Young Slime Life.

Mr. Williams’ lead attorney, Brian Steel, has been cross-examining Mr. Stephens in the hopes of proving the opposite. 

“You didn’t really co-found anything with Jeffery isn’t that true?” Mr. Steel asked Stephens. “You went one direction and he stayed in another isn’t that true?”

“We went separate ways,” Mr. Stephens replied.

Mr. Stephens also said that Mr. Williams never visited him when he was in prison for an unrelated crime and “encouraged” Mr. Stephens “to stop selling drugs.”

“He wanted you to stop committing crimes right? Tell the jury,” Mr. Steel said.

“Yeah,” Mr. Stephens said, in reply.

Another interesting part of this case is the fact that some of the defendants’ provocative lyrics and videos  are being used as evidence in the case. Prosecutors, for one, have been pointing to music videos and social media photos as evidence that YSL is a subset of the National Bloods gang. Young Thug’s team, on the other hand, is presenting music as evidence, too.

Mr. Steel recently played Gunna – who took his own plea deal in this case – and Young Thug’s “Pushin’ P” music video in the courtroom to show the jury that his client never showed Bloods gang signs in the video. Mr. Steel has also previously explained that the hit song was all about “positivity.”

“It’s called ‘pushin P’ and it’s positivity,” Mr. Steel said. “It means any circumstance you are in, if you think positively about something, you can make it through.

“You are pushing positivity, you are pushing P.”

Mr. Steel has also told jurors that the “Thug” in Mr. William’s rap moniker stands for “Truly Humble Under God.”

More recently, Mr. Steel wanted the jury to watch the music video for “Lifestyle” – a 2014 song by Rich Gang featuring Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan. His hope was the video would show that his client’s outfit choices and hand movements are commonplace in the world of music – and not proof of any gang affiliation. His request was denied by Chief Judge Ural Glanville, however, because he felt like Mr. Stephens was not the right witness to testify about the video.

“I believe your evidence is for a proper purpose, I just don’t think Mr. Stephens is the right person at this time,” Judge Glanville explained. “You have to know or have some relevant basis to testify about what’s in them, what’s in the video or what’s in the item or in the picture, Mr. Stephens struggled with that yesterday, he really did and that’s the court’s concern.”

The judge may allow Mr. Steel to show the video to the jury when another witness takes the stand, but for now, he’ll have to wait. After his request failed, Mr. Steel kept trying to work the angle that certain actions and gang signs are emblematic of hip-hop culture as opposed to gang culture. In doing so during his cross-examination of Mr. Stephens, Mr. Steel brought up some surprising celebrities. 

“Do you know who Serena Williams is?” Mr. Steel asked Stephens.

Mr. Stephens answered in a simple “yeah” before the attorney continued by asking him if he had seen the tennis star “doing what’s called the Crip Walk” at Wimbledon. 

“I don’t really watch tennis,” was Mr. Stephens’s reply.

Then, Mr. Steel turned to another famous athlete: NBA star LeBron James. 

“Have you seen LeBron James do a video, put out a video wiping his nose saying slime to his teammates?” Mr. Steel asked Mr. Stephens.

“Lebron James, he got a different handshake for each player,” Mr. Stephens answered.

“Did one of them include wiping nose, saying slime?” Mr. Steele pressed.

“Lebron may have done that,” Stephens said.

Needless to say, this highly-watched trial could take a very long time. It’s been estimated to last at least half a year, and prosecutors are expected to call at least 400 witnesses. The next court session will resume on Jan. 22.

Mr. Trump’s trial, if it actually happens, could take just as long, or longer.