Young Thug's RICO trial on hold indefinitely after judge's alleged 'improper' meeting
Young Thug's racketeering trial has been put on hold indefinitely.
The winding legal case, ongoing since the rapper's indictment in May 2022, has ground to a halt after Fulton County, Georgia, Judge Ural Glanville was accused of misconduct, according to The New York Times and BBC. On Monday, the judge agreed to send a motion for his recusal from the trial for another judge to weigh in, and that the trial would remain in recess until then, the outlets reported.
Thug's defense attorneys have claimed the judge held an "improper" meeting with prosecutors and a lead witness. Glanville has denied multiple motions for recusal in the last few weeks. Jurors have not heard arguments for two weeks, the Times reported.
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The judge said he would release a transcript of the meeting, according to the outlets.
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Last month, the rapper's attorney, Brian Steel, was taken into custody for alleged contempt of court after he refused to disclose to Glanville how he learned of the private meeting between the judge and prosecutors in the case. "You got some information you shouldn't have gotten," Glanville told Steel, per The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
The attorney was ordered to serve a 20-day sentence over 10 weekends, but the Georgia Supreme Court granted an emergency motion for bond, meaning he no longer had to report to jail, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution and The Washington Post.
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Why is Young Thug on trial?
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Young Thug in May 2022. A second indictment in August 2022 accuses Young Thug and 27 other people of conspiring to violate Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The indictments contain 65 counts of felony charges, six of which apply to Young Thug.
Contributing: Edward Segarra and Naledi Ushe