Young Thug Busted in Gang Indictment

Young Thug was arrested at his Atlanta home on Monday and is now in jail facing charges that he co-founded a criminal street gang. The 30-year-old Grammy-winning rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and participation in street gang activity, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The charges are part of a 56-count indictment naming 28 alleged associates of the gang Young Slime Life, which allegedly claims an association with the national Bloods street gang. It carries the same initials as Young Thug's Young Stoner Life record label.

Other alleged members include rapper Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, and Christian Eppinger, who allegedly shot Atlanta Police Officer David Rodgers numerous times during a February arrest, per WAGA. "The defendants conspired to associate together and with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity," the indictment reads, per Rolling Stone. Williams is accused of drug possession with intent to distribute and theft by receiving stolen property. He's also accused of threatening to kill a man and renting a car used in a 2015 murder, per the Guardian.

Earlier this year, two associates allegedly asked Williams for "permission" to murder Atlanta rapper YFN Lucci. Prosecutors say he was stabbed while awaiting trial for murder in Fulton County Jail on Feb. 9, per Rolling Stone. Other alleged YSL members are accused of murder, attempted murder, robbery, and witness intimidation. One is accused of shooting at rapper Lil Wayne's tour bus in 2015. Williams' RICO Act charge comes from an alleged offense in January 2013, while his gang activity charge comes from an alleged offense in May 2018, per the Constitution. His lawyer, however, tells WSB that the rapper has "committed no crime whatsoever." Kitchens—who has not been arrested—is indicted on a single count of violating the RICO Act, per the Guardian. (More street gangs stories.)