Rapper Young Thug accepts plea deal in long-running racketeering trial

(CNN) — Young Thug has entered a guilty plea deal in an agreement that will& end the Grammy-winning rapper’s racketeering trial – the longest court case in Georgia history.Young Thug, whose given name is Jeffery Williams,has entered a non-negotiated guilty plea deal Thursday with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to several charges — including firearm possession and participation in criminal street gang activity — while he pleaded no contest to racketeering and leading a criminal street gang — a sudden conclusion to a dramatic and tumultuous trial that included three different judges, the jailhouse stabbing of a codefendant and an alleged in-court drug transaction.In 2022, Williams was charged alongside more than two dozen others under Georgia’s sprawling Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – known as RICO.Defense attorneys have accused Williams of misusing the racketeering statute.Prosecutors accused the rapper of leading a criminal street gang that committed murder and a slew of violent crimes in Atlanta.The case had dragged on for months, including multiple motions for a mistrial, the most recent being last week. The jury selection process alone took over a year.Three codefendants in the YSL racketeering trial have accepted plea agreements this week from the Fulton County...