Young Thug’s co-defendant Quamarvious Nichols accepted a plea deal in the YSL RICO trial on Tuesday (October 29). Nichols pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations.
Prosecutors dropped multiple charges against Nichols. The plea deal cleared him of murder, participation in criminal street gang activity, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
“We categorically deny and contest any use of violence by Mr. Nichols,” his lawyer Bruce Harvey told Judge Paige Reese Whitaker. “We don’t agree to underlying factual basis [alleged by the prosecution]. We believe those two predicate [drug-related] acts that were committed by Mr. Nichols without any question are sufficient to meet the elements of the offense … which is a RICO conspiracy. A RICO conspiracy requires proof that the defendant … conspire with another person to violate one of the substantive provisions of RICO. And that would be drug offenses … We acknowledge the two [drug] events he participated in. We categorically deny any other allegations.”
Judge Whitaker sentenced Nichols to 20 years, seven of which will be served in prison and the rest on probation. Nichols received credit for time served. He already spent more than two years in jail.
The judge concluded court for the day after sentencing Nichols. There were no status updates on Young Thug and his other co-defendants.
Young Thug’s trial, which began in 2023, was derailed when the prosecutors made a mistake while presenting evidence against Nichols. The defense demanded a mistrial on October 23.
Judge Whitaker refused to grant a mistrial with prejudice, which would prevent prosecutors from retrying Young Thug and his co-defendants. The judge asked defense attorneys if they wanted a mistrial without prejudice, which led to plea deal negotiations behind the scenes.