Young Thug stood before Judge Whitaker and begged for his freedom during his plea hearing on Thursday (October 31).
Thugger, who’s been behind bars in a Fulton County jail since 2022 when he was arrested on multiple RICO charges, told Whitaker he was “a good guy” who was essentially a victim of his circumstances. Whitaker received Young Thug’s comments well but stressed how detrimental his rap music and lifestyle image can be to young kids who look up to him.
“There’s more things to rap about,” Thug assured the judge. “I’ve experienced a lot of good things—I mean, I experienced more bad things—but I experienced a lot of good things, too.”
Whitaker then proceeded to run through his sentence and slapped him with 40 years, with the first five years served in prison, commuted by time served, 15 years of probation and thousands of dollars in fines.
That will be followed by a backloaded 20 years, which can be served in custody if he fails probation. Essentially, Thug will get out of jail immediately and remain on probation for 15 years.
The judge also told Thug he has to stay out of the Atlanta Metro area for the first 10 years of his probation unless he needs to attend a funeral, wedding or such event of a close family member. He must deliver an anti-gun, anti-gang ad at a school or boys or girls club four times a year, which would count toward his community service hours.
Furthermore, he cannot promote street gangs or violence, knowingly engage with anyone listed in the indictment or their family members and cannot posses a weapon but can be in arms reach of anyone in his security detail. He must undergo drug tests as well.
Young Thug accepted a non-negotiated (or blind) plea deal after agreeing to plead guilty or no contest to multiple charges, including possession of a machine gun, the RICO count and gang leader count. His plea arrived after three of the remaining co-defendants reached plea deals over the last 72 hours. Rodalius Ryan and Marquavius Huey entered guilty pleas the day after Quamarvious Nichols accepted a deal.
Ryan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO Act. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced him to 10 years, which was commuted to time served. Ryan remains in custody as he’s serving a life sentence for murder. Huey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, aggravated assault, robbery, gun and gang charges.
Thug’s sentence ends what many are calling Atlanta’s “trial of the century.”