-
Fresh strikes hit south Beirut after Israeli evacuation calls
-
India's capital chokes in smog after firework ban flouted
-
Climate shifts and urbanisation drive Nepal dengue surge
-
Jets snap five-game skid with thrilling 21-13 win over Texans
-
'On top of the world': Japan hails Ohtani series triumph
-
Asian stocks mostly fall, tracking global slide
-
Title-chasing Bagnaia fastest in opening Malaysia MotoGP practice
-
TikTok bandits terrorise, transfix Pakistan riverlands
-
Morant fires Grizzlies in win over Bucks, Rockets hold off Mavs
-
'Waiting in vain': year on from pledge, world clings to fossil fuels
-
Shelf-sharing seeks to save bookstores in Japan
-
Filipinos brave crowds, flooding for All Saints' Day cemetery visits
-
Japan cyclists risk jail for using a mobile
-
Summit to save nature enters final day with disagreement on funding
-
Fright night: NY marks Halloween parade with political edge
-
North Korea says test-fire 'perfected' new solid-fuel ICBM
-
England and New Zealand in search of November flourish
-
Spotlight on half-backs as Springboks eye tour sweep
-
Man Utd hope for Van Nistelrooy magic, Arsenal face Newcastle test
-
Taiwan cleans up after Typhoon Kong-rey leaves two dead
-
Lewis run blitz leads West Indies to big victory over England
-
Dead or alive? Scores missing after Sudan attacks
-
Lawn sign wars: US election drains neighborhood spirit
-
Some defiant south Lebanese stay put in face of Israeli fire
-
Deceptive 'bait-and-switch' Facebook groups snare US voters: study
-
In US swing state Pennsylvania, inflation means 'rent or eating'
-
Immigrant dreams boil over in US-Mexican film 'La Cocina'
-
In US, transgender candidates enter political lion's den
-
Boeing again raises offer to end strike, union to vote Monday
-
'Game of Thrones' movie in early development: reports
-
US rapper Young Thug pleads guilty in street gang case
-
Apple narrowly beats estimates with boost from iPhone sales
-
Bolivia's breadbasket squeezed by pro-Morales blockades
-
Mahomes, Mayfield prepare for duel as Chiefs, Bucs clash
-
Alcaraz suffers Paris Masters shock as race for Turin heats up
-
Harris blasts 'offensive' Trump for remarks on women
-
Alcaraz stunned by 18th-ranked Humbert at Paris Masters
-
UN rapporteur urges climate activist's release ahead of COP29
-
O'Brien takes aim at Classic again with City of Troy
-
US says N.Korea troops ready for Ukraine combat as missile raises tensions
-
Trump's 'protect the women' comment: not the first sexist dig
-
Rescuers race to find those washed away by Spain's floods
-
Norris expects 'cleaner battle' with Verstappen in Brazil
-
Ballon d'Or wins 'normal' for Barcelona star Bonmati
-
Spain flooding 'catastrophe' should serve as a warning, EU says at nature summit
-
Verstappen blasts 'biased' critics as world title tension builds
-
Mpox is not under control, warns Africa CDC
-
OpenAI releases ChatGPT search engine, taking on Google
-
Hamilton says Norris can win Formula One title in 'down to wire' chase
-
More than 400 people come forward over Al-Fayed sexual abuse claims
NYSE - LSE
| CMSD | -0.69% | 24.66 | $ | |
| CMSC | -0.16% | 24.55 | $ | |
| SCS | -1.66% | 12.03 | $ | |
| NGG | -2.33% | 63.59 | $ | |
| BCC | -1.01% | 133.03 | $ | |
| BCE | 0.06% | 32.26 | $ | |
| GSK | -0.68% | 36.76 | $ | |
| RIO | -1.56% | 64.89 | $ | |
| BTI | 1.77% | 34.98 | $ | |
| BP | 1.16% | 29.36 | $ | |
| RBGPF | 100% | 59.6 | $ | |
| RYCEF | 1.15% | 6.94 | $ | |
| RELX | -1.49% | 46.22 | $ | |
| VOD | -1.29% | 9.27 | $ | |
| JRI | 0.23% | 13.08 | $ | |
| AZN | -2.36% | 71.15 | $ |
US rapper Young Thug freed after guilty plea in street gang case
Rapper Young Thug was released from jail Thursday after pleading guilty to involvement in a criminal gang as well as drug and firearms charges, an abrupt twist to the longest trial in the history of the southern US state of Georgia.
The 33-year-old Atlanta artist, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, was one of 28 alleged street gang members indicted in May 2022 on racketeering and other charges.
Prosecutors accused Young Thug of being the leader of YSL, or Young Slime Life, a part of the Bloods gang, and charged him with violating state racketeering laws.
The underlying offenses in the racketeering indictment included murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing and theft.
The Grammy-winning rapper pleaded no contest to racketeering charges and no contest to being a leader of a criminal street gang, but guilty to six other counts including firearms and drug charges.
The New York Times reported he was sentenced to time served and 15 years of probation by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who replaced a previous judge who presided over the protracted trial.
Online Fulton County jail records showed Young Thug was released Thursday in a listing under his birth name. The disposition of the charges were listed as "time served" or "probation" on the database listing.
Jury selection in the case began in January 2023 but opening arguments were not held until November 27 of that year.
During opening arguments, prosecutors said Young Thug's record label, YSL, was a front for a crime ring and he was the leader.
"The evidence will show that YSL checks all of the boxes for being a criminal street gang," Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love said.
Love read verses from Young Thug's track "Take It To Trial," saying the lyrics the prosecution had identified had "an uncanny similarity to very true, and very real, and quite specific events."
"We didn't chase the lyrics to solve the murder, we chased the murder and found the lyrics," she said.
The defense insisted that YSL stands for Young Stoner Life Records, a hip-hop label that Young Thug founded in 2016 and which, they say, amounts to a vague association of artists, not a gang.
Defense attorneys had sought to exclude lyrics from evidence, saying that "rap is the only fictional art form treated this way."
A rap vanguard essential to the Atlanta scene, Young Thug is one of contemporary hip-hop's most famous and most idiosyncratic figures.
V.Fontes--PC