Young Thug was allegedly handed a Percocet pill by one of the co-defendants in his ongoing RICO trial.
According to WSB-TV reporter Michael Seiden, the rapper is accused of being the recipient of a hand-to-hand drug exchange by co-defendant Kahlieff Adams. As Rolling Stone reports, the alleged transaction resulted in a motion filed yesterday (January 19), in which prosecutors accused Adams of allegedly passing off the drug while Young Thug was sitting beside his attorney.
In a statement via Rolling Stone, Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel said the rapper – real name Jeffery Williams – “does not even know Mr. Adams”, and that the motion “is replete with factual inaccuracies [and] embellishments”. Steel said that while an investigation into the incident had “cleared [Williams] of any wrongdoing”, the responsible parties were charged and will appear in court at a later date.
In a new motion per Rolling Stone, prosecutors allege that Williams “closed his right hand around the contraband and placed his closed right hand underneath the table… to conceal his receipt of the illegal contraband.” Surveillance footage shows Sheriff’s Office personnel immediately confronting Williams after the alleged exchange, with the rapper then seen handing over the contraband.
EXCLUSIVE: My colleague @MarkWinneWSB just obtained surveillance video that shows the moment prosecutors accuse Young Thug and his co defendant Kahlieff Adams of conducting a “hand-to-hand” drug deal in court.@wsbtv pic.twitter.com/smhVopvH7x
— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) January 19, 2023
According to reports, authorities searched Adams after the incident and found more Percocet, as well as marijuana, tobacco and other contraband “wrapped in plastic and food seasonings to conceal the odour.” Officials say Adams ingested some of the substances to conceal them, and was subsequently taken to hospital.
Williams and Adams are among a number of YSL associates standing trial in relation to Georgia’s sweeping racketeering indictment against the record label. The indictment alleges YSL to be the centrepiece of a criminal street gang. Fellow indictees included rappers and YSL labelmates Gunna, Lil Duke and Slimelife Shawty – as well as Thug’s brother Unfoonk – all of whom have reached agreements in relation to the case.
Last month, Gunna pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in the case, following his arrest last May. Known as an Alford plea, the negotiation allowed Gunna to plead guilty on the charge because it was in his best interest while maintaining his innocence on the charge.
Upon his release from prison earlier this month, Gunna called for Young Thug to be freed in an Instagram post. Williams, meanwhile, is facing nine charges total, including the top count of racketeering conspiracy. He has denied all charges.
The trial began on January 9. Prior to that, it was reported that Young Thug had added hip-hop historians and lyric experts to his witness list. During the first day of jury selection, the presiding Judge Ural Glanville recited the lyrics to Young Thug’s song ‘Slime Shit’. Gunna’s legal team had previously described the use of rap lyrics as evidence as an “intensely problematic” practice.
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