2 more defendants plead guilty in Young Thug case

ATLANTA — Two more people have pleaded guilty in the lengthy trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug, bringing the number of remaining defendants to three.

Rodalius Ryan, 20, and Marquavius Huey, 28, both entered guilty pleas Wednesday following a week of “painstaking” negotiations with Fulton County prosecutors.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Young Thug, the Grammy-winning musician at the center of the case, is also considering a deal. Prosecutors allege the 33-year-old — whose real name is Jeffery Williams — is the leader of Young Slime Life, which they contend is a criminal street gang.

Ryan was given 10 years in prison but had his sentence commuted to time served. He is the youngest of the 28 defendants charged in the sprawling gang case and is already serving life in prison for the 2019 murder of Jamari Holmes.

He was just 15 years old when that shooting occurred, and his attorneys are appealing his conviction.

“This trial has been exhausting for everybody, and that certainly includes Mr. Ryan,” his attorney, Leah Abbasi told the judge Wednesday afternoon.

The Young Thug case began with jury selection in January 2023 and is officially the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.

Huey, a father of two young children, was initially charged with 19 counts in the indictment.

Those charges included conspiracy to violate RICO; three counts of armed robbery; four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; four counts of possession of a firearm during commission of a felony; hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree; four counts of participation in criminal street gang activity; possession of weapon by incarcerated individual; and possession of a telecommunication device by incarcerated individual.

Judge Paige Reese Whitaker told Huey that if convicted at trial, he faced three consecutive life sentences, plus an additional 100 years.

Instead, he was sentenced to 25 years, with nine to serve in custody and 11 on probation. As part of the deal, the five-year balance would be suspended, prosecutor Simone Hylton said.

“It’s very clear that this plea is to your benefit,” Whitaker told Huey. “It’s frankly remarkable and something that you should not take for granted.”

Huey’s attorney, Careton Matthews Sr. said his client has a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter whom he had never met before Wednesday. The little girl was among several of Huey’s relatives seated in the courtroom for his plea deal.

Matthews said his client had a tough upbringing and that Huey’s father was murdered in 2010.

“He’s seen a lot of things in his short 28-year life,” his attorney said, noting there were times when Huey was homeless and living out of a car with his mother and siblings.

Judge Whitaker told him the plea deal was an opportunity to change his life.

“Be the father that you need to be and you ought to be to your very young children,” Whitaker told him. “You are being given the opportunity to turn your life around.”

Matthews said that after prison, Huey hopes to mentor young Black men and encourage them to avoid making similar mistakes as himself. He also hopes to start his own trucking business one day.

Addressing the judge and those in court, Huey vowed to do his time “and come back a better man.”

Prosecutors allege Young Slime Life is responsible for a spate of robberies, shootings and the deaths of several people in Atlanta. Williams’ attorneys maintain that YSL, or Young Stoner Life, is simply the name of the star’s record label.

Proceedings are expected to continue Thursday outside the jury’s presence.