Courtney Kramerthe Republican challenger to Fanny Willis in the Fulton County District Attorney race in Georgia, is pledging to end the long-running YSL RICO trial involving Young Thug if elected, according to a statement her campaign released on Friday (August 16).
“With no apparent justice on the horizon, I have been deeply concerned and disappointed by the lack of prosecutorial oversight in this case,” Kramer said in the statement. “As time goes on, the public has witnessed a trial that has no doubt ended with lawyers repeatedly admonished for their lack of trial preparation: a complete and utter waste of the court's time.”
Kramer continues to blast the prosecutors in the case, noting that they were recently “convicted” by the new judge Paige Reese Whittaker “for failing to meet the moral and legal duty to disclose exculpatory evidence that could prove fruitful to the defense, one of the most basic requirements in the courtroom.” It further claims that the case was “reported to bring fame” to Willis, “not to bring justice to the community” and that it resulted in “endless amounts of taxpayer dollars” being spent “on a prosecution based almost entirely on witnesses with little to no credibility”.
“If elected as the next Fulton County District Attorney, I promise to end this prosecution immediately,” Kramer said. “I challenge my opponent to do the same thing, the right thing, and end this prosecution and release the defendants in this case who are being held without bail.”
Reps for Willis and Young Thug did not immediately respond Bulletin boardrequests for comment.
The YSL case began in May 2022 when Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) was indicted along with dozens of others for claims that their YSL was not a label called Young Stoner Life but a violent Atlanta street act called Young Slime Life. The group of defendants was charged under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, with prosecutors alleging they ran a criminal enterprise that committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug trafficking and other crimes during a decade.
Since his arrest, Thug has remained in prison despite multiple calls for his release. On August 8, Judge Whitaker denied Thug's lawyers' requests for a mistrial over the explosive revelation of a secret “ex parte” meeting between the since-removed judge in the case, Ural Glanvilleprosecutors and a key witness. Before that, he refused their renewed offer to release Thug on bail.
Notably, the trial, which began in January 2023 and continued Monday (August 12), is now the largest in the history of the state of Georgia. with dozens of witnesses still set to testify, it is expected to drag on well into next year.
You can read Kramer's full statement here.
