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Atlanta rapper Gunna to be released after pleading guilty to RICO charge – WSB-TV Channel 2

December 14, 2022

ATLANTA — Atlanta rapper Gunna has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in a sweeping gang indictment against him, rapper Young Thug and several other alleged members of the criminal street gang Young Slime Life.

We are working to find out when the rapper will be released from prison, on Channel 2 Action News from 4 p.m.

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Mark Winne, Channel 2 investigative journalist was the only TV reporter in the courtroom on Wednesday as Gunna, real name Sergio Kitchens, faced a judge.

The rapper entered into a plea bargain, known as the Alford plea, in which he pleaded guilty to one charge because it was in his best interest while maintaining his innocence on the same charge. The charge was one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influence and Corruption Act.

Gunna was sentenced to five years including one in prison. The one-year sentence was commuted to time served. The balance of four years remaining on his sentence has been suspended and will be subject to special conditions including 500 hours of community service.

After sentencing, the rapper released a statement saying:

“Although I have agreed to always tell the truth, I want to make it perfectly clear that I did NOT make a statement, that I was NOT interrogated, that I did NOT cooperate, that I have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.

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Although he said he will not testify, it is a condition of Gunna’s trial that he testify if called, although he can claim the Fifth Amendment.

Gunna, Young Thug and 26 others were arrested in May in a sweeping gang indictment alleging YSL is a violent criminal street gang that has committed multiple murders, shootings and carjackings over a decade . Prosecutors said the rappers promoted the gang’s activities in songs and on social media.

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In his statement Wednesday, Gunna said that when he joined YSL in 2016, he didn’t think of it as a gang, but “more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations. “, wrote Gunna. “My focus at YSL was entertainment – rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the black community.”

Gunna said he treasures his association with YSL music and always will.

In the plea agreement, which was obtained by Channel 2, the rapper swore he personally knew YSL members or associates had committed crimes as part of the gang and seemed to distance himself from “YSL the gang” versus “YSL the label”.

“I acknowledge, accept and deeply regret that my talent and my music have indirectly favored the YSL gang at the expense of my community,” Gunna acknowledged in the signed statement. “YSL as a gang must stop.”

Gunna also testified in the plea deal that he was in a car with Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, when officers stopped the car and found hydrocodone, methamphetamine and a weapon. on fire inside. According to the plea agreement, Gunn claimed that the gun and drugs were not his. It is not known if anyone else was in the car at the time.

According to the plea deal, the rapper will be required to complete 500 hours of community service, a substantial portion of which will require him to speak to young people about the dangers and immorality of gangs and gang violence.

He is also not allowed to carry a weapon for the duration of his sentence. If he violates the terms of the plea agreement, the district attorney has the right to revoke his suspended sentence.

Young Thug remains in jail.

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Prosecutors ask judge to delay Young Thug and Gunna’s trial In May, Young Thug and Gunna were both named in a sweeping gang indictment that included 26 other people alleged to be members of the Young Slime Life gang.