Young Thug, Gunna & More YSL Members Indicted on RICO Charges

On Monday, Young Thug was arrested on charges of violating the RICO Act. 28 members of YSL, including Gunna, have also been indicted.

After being arrested in Atlanta on Monday for accusations of gang-related activity, Young Thug has received seven more indictments. According to WSB-TV, the rapper was charged with seven felony counts for possession of controlled substances and unidentified illegal firearms.

The rapper is one of 28 members – including Gunna – either a part of or affiliated with record label and imprint YSL (Young Slime Life/Young Stoner Life/Young Slatt Life) named in a 56-count indictment. Members of the indictment have been accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (or RICO Act) and engaging in criminal gang activity. On Wednesday, Gunna surrendered to Fulton County authorities.

Following Thug’s arrest, clips of the rapper’s mansion being raided went viral, along with footage of him post-arrest. Thug – born Jeffery Lamar Williams – is one of three founding members of YSL, which prosecutors claim is an Atlanta, Blood-affiliated street gang originally formed in late-2012, according to the 88-page indictment filed in Fulton Superior Court, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Other indicted members of the YSL camp include Duke, Yak Gotti, PeeWee Roscoe, and Williams’ brother Unfoonk.

The indictment references “colors, clothing, tattoos, hand signs as well as verbal and written identifiers” that YSL allegedly uses, including wearing red or green bandanas, saying and writing the words “BLATT” meaning “Blood Love All the Time” or “SLATT” meaning “Slime Love All the Time.” Commonly used emojis are also noted, including the “Green Heart, Green Snake, Blowing Bose and Green Vomit.”

Along with the 28 defendants charged with conspiracy in relation to RICO, members of YSL have also been charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault, drugs and weapons charges. Gotti and four others from the YSL camp are accused of involvement with the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas, Jr., which prosecutors claim was a “rival gang member,” with Williams accused of renting a car “in the commission of” the murder.

The indictment lists additional “acts in furtherance of the conspiracy” between 2013 and 2022, from Roscoe being charged felony offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, allegedly shooting at Lil Wayne’s tour bus in 2015. In 2018, Roscoe’s conviction was overturned.

The indictment claims that Gunna – born Sergio Kitchens – is YSL-affiliated, wearing chains that read  “YSL” and “Slatt” in the “Fox 5” video with Lil Keed. Prosecutors also allege that Kitchens’ line “we got ten-hundred round choppers” amounted to “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”

“I’ll tell you the response to any allegation is Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him,” Williams’ attorney Brian Steel told WSB-TV.

In April 2021, Williams and Kitchens posted bail for 30 low-level inmates in Atlanta who were unable to afford the costs themselves, per WSB-TV. In the same month, YSL released their most recent compilation Slime Language 2.

This story was updated on Thursday, May 12th.