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Rapper Young Thug's RICO Trial Interrupted By Accusation Of Courtroom Drug Deal
Young Thug and co-defendant Kahlieff Adams are being investigated by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office after Adams allegedly placed a Percocet pill — a prescription pain medication — in the rapper’s hands during jury selection.
Rapper Young Thug and one of his fellow co-defendants are facing a new allegation that they conducted a drug deal inside the Atlanta courtroom while jury selection was happening for the artist’s racketeering trial, according to Atlanta ABC station WSB-TV.
Courtroom surveillance footage released to the station caught the alleged exchange on Jan. 18. In it, you can see co-defendant Kahlieff Adams walk up to Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, as he sat at the defendant’s table and put an item into his hands.
Williams is accused of attempting to conceal the item by closing his hand and placing it under the table, according to a new motion from the prosecution, obtained by WSB-TV. Deputies in court confiscated the item, which was allegedly a Percocet pill — a prescription pain medication.
The rapper’s attorneys called this a “blatant fabrication,” and claimed that Young Thug extended his hand to Adams for what he believed to be a handshake, according to ABC News.
“Mr. Williams was not knowingly or willingly or intentionally involved with a supposed ‘drug deal,’” the rapper’s attorney Brian Steel told ABC News in a statement. Steel told ABC that the rapper was “startled” when a co-defendant walked up to him in court and handed him an “object.” Oxygen.com reached out to the attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Young Thug’s attorney filed a motion on Monday, arguing against the allegation that the rapper’s actions led to a delay in trial. Steel told ABC News on Tuesday that Young Thug has not been charged in the incident. Oxygen.com has reached out to the District Attorney’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.
"The State's motion was replete with factual inaccuracies, misrepresentations and was filed, it appears, solely for the purpose of placing Defendant Jeffrey Williams in a bad light in the eyes of the media and the public, and with the distinct possibility of poisoning the jury pool," Young Thug's legal team argued in the motion obtain by ABC News.
The Atlanta-based rapper was among 28 people indicted on racketeering charges in May 2022. The district attorney’s office alleges Young Thug’s record label Young Slime Life (YSL) is also the name of an organized crime group affiliated with the Bloods gang. He’s charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrup Organizations (RICO) Act, and participation in gang activities, according to previous Oxygen.com reporting.
The jury selection for the Grammy-winning rapper’s trial began on Jan. 4. He’s pleaded not guilty to all eight charges against him, according to ABC News.
Prosecutors alleged this latest courtroom incident led to the discovery of more contraband in the courtroom and claim Adams “resisted being searched” but was found with “Percocet, marijuana, tobacco and other contraband, wrapped in plastic and food seasoning to make the odor of the marijuana [disappear],” according to a court document obtained by ABC News.
Adams was taken to Gradyn Hospital in Atlanta after prosecutors said he appeared to ingest some of the contraband to try and conceal it, but his lawyer told ABC he was taken to the hospital and released after being repeatedly tased by Fulton County officers.
The judge for the trial, Ural Glanville, has been forced to pause jury selection three times this month over drugs, arrests and a health scare, according to WSB-TV.
