Young Thug trial: Another defendant pleads guilty, takes plea deal in lengthy gang case

ATLANTA — One of six people standing trial in Young Thug’s lengthy gang and racketeering trial accepted a plea deal, potentially paving the way for other defendants to do the same.

Quamarvious Nichols, 29, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of violating the state’s RICO act.

It was not immediately clear if other defendants — including Young Thug, the Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper at the center of the case — are also considering taking deals.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Fulton County prosecutors agreed to drop a murder charge and several weapons charges. Nichols was sentenced to 20 years, with seven to serve in custody and the balance on probation. He will get credit for the nearly three years he has already served behind bars, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker said.

The sudden break in the nearly two-year-old trial followed days of negotiations between defense attorneys and prosecutors. Attorneys have remained relatively tight-lipped about those discussions.

The musician, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, has been in jail since May 2022.

Prosecutors accuse the 33-year-old of being the leader of Young Slime Life, which they contend is a criminal street gang responsible for a spate of robberies, shootings and the deaths of several people. Williams’ attorneys maintain that YSL, or Young Stoner Life, is simply the name of the star’s record label. He has been behind bars for almost two and a half years.

Nichols initially faced seven counts in the indictment, including conspiring to violate the state’s RICO act, murder, two counts of participating in a street gang, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Nichols was one of 28 people charged in the sweeping indictment that stunned Atlanta’s hip-hop community when it was handed down in May 2022.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis depicted the indictment as a crackdown on Atlanta’s gangs. She also defended her decision to use the rapper’s own lyrics against him, saying, “if you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m going to use it.”

Jury selection began in January of 2023, and the case is officially the longest in Georgia history.

Of the 28 people initially charged, nine defendants took plea deals before trial began and 12 others are being tried separately. Another defendant, Cordarius Dorsey, had his charges dropped after being convicted of an unrelated murder.

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