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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Two co-defendants remain on trial with rapper Young Thug after three others accepted plea deals on Tuesday and Wednesday, all while the judge considers granting a mistrial motion filed by the defense.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, and two co-defendants are facing charges related to racketeering conspiracy and participation in criminal street gang activity, along with drug and gun violations.
Williams is accused of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which targets individuals working under a criminal organization.
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Who is Rodalius Ryan?
Ryan, also known as Lil Rod, accepted a plea deal on Wednesday. The 20-year-old was charged with conspiracy to violate the RICO Act. He agreed to plead guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 10 years commuted to time served.
He is already serving a life sentence for the 2015 murder of a teenager in Atlanta. He is in the process of appealing the conviction.
"He did adopt the people who were around him, the people who could support him, the people in his neighborhood who group themselves calling themselves YSL," Leah Abbasi, a lawyer for Ryan, said. "Mr. Ryan, at no point, was trying to advance a criminal street gang and their interests. He was trying to protect himself, being a young person largely on his own, and this is where he's ended up."
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Abbasi also slammed the long-running trial.
"It would be wonderful if some of the money spent on a case like this could possibly be invested in the future of people like Mr. Ryan, who go into custody at such a young age and who really then are not given the resources to make the changes they really would like to make to have a productive future," Abbasi said.
Whitaker accepted the plea and advised Ryan to consider his future going forward.
"If you can be on the straight and narrow, then somebody your age, after serving some amount of time, is probably going to be considered favorably for parole," Whitaker said. "And you just have to keep that in mind, that you need to be looking out for sort of the long run, and not playing the short game, but playing the long game so that you have a future in front of you still."
In 2023, Ryan was searched in a holding cell outside the courtroom because deputies suspected he had snuck drugs into the courtroom. Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said a "sizeable" amount of marijuana was found on him.
He was injured in an alleged assault by a deputy last year. His attorney alleged that the deputy punched Ryan in the head.
Who is Marquavius Huey?
Marquavius Huey, also known as Qua, also accepted a plea deal on Wednesday.
Huey, 28, was charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree, participation in a criminal street gang, possession of a telecommunication device by an incarcerated individual and gun charges. He was also facing RICO charges.
Huey was sentenced to nine years in custody and 11 years on probation for multiple charges. The sentences will be served concurrently. The state agreed to dismiss some of the charges Huey was facing, including on count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
His lawyer Careton Matthews Sr. said Huey's father was murdered in 2010 and he was raised by a single mother.
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"There have been times when Mr. Huey and his mother and his family have been homeless and have lived out of a car," Matthews said. "So he's had a very, very, very hard life as it relates to his upbringing."
Huey has two children, a five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. He met his daughter for the first time in the courtroom on Wednesday.
Matthews said Huey plans to start a nonprofit organization when he finishes serving his sentence.
"He was a teenager when he lost his father and things began to take a turn for Mr. Huey," Matthews said. "He wants to be able to tell teenagers, young boys, young Black boys, he wants to be able to say to them, 'don't do what I did, and you have another way in which you can go.' And he wants to be able to share his experiences."
Whitaker said the plea deal was "remarkable." She said Huey was previously facing three life sentences and about 100 additional years in prison if convicted.
"You are getting a huge opportunity to turn your life around," Whitaker said.
Huey addressed the court after Whitaker accepted his plea.
"I want to thank the court and thank God," Huey said. "And I want to apologize to my kids, my family, everybody that supported me in this stressful process. I plan to do my time, come back and be a better man."
Who is Quamarvious Nichols?
Nichols agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to violate the state's RICO Act. In exchange, the state agreed to not prosecute Nichols on the remaining charges, including murder.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 13 years on probation.
Whitaker has yet to rule on a mistrial motion filed by Nichols' legal team.
The lawyers called for a mistrial after a witness accidentally read an unredacted exhibit during his testimony. Slimelife Shawty, whose real name is Wunnie Lee, read the unredacted printout of a social media caption rather than the redacted version shown on a monitor. The caption featured the hashtag "Free Qua."
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Defense attorneys said the jury was not supposed to know which defendants had previously been incarcerated.
"Now the jury has repeatedly heard about Mr. Nichols being in jail, being in prison, and we cannot unring that bell, so we will ask for a mistrial," Nicole Westmoreland, an attorney for Nichols, said.
Whitaker dismissed the witness and jury for the day after the mishap. She said she would not grant a mistrial with prejudice, but she did not rule out the possibility of a mistrial without prejudice. The ruling would end the trial, but the state could still retry it.
Who is Jeffery Williams?
Williams is a rapper with over 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His rap career began in 2010 with a guest appearance on rapper TruRoyal's song "She Can Go."
After releasing several mixtapes, Williams was signed to rapper Gucci Mane's record label, 1017 Brick Squad Records.
In 2016, Williams announced that he was starting his own record label called YSL records. Prosecutors have alleged that YSL is actually a gang.
Williams, 33, was born in Atlanta. He was the tenth of 11 children.
He is dating R&B artist Mariah the Scientist, whose real name is Mariah Buckles.
Who is Deamonte Kendrick?
Kendrick, also known as Yak Gotti, is one of the co-defendants on trial with Williams. Kendrick, 31, was born in Miami and raised in Atlanta.
He was a rapper under the YSL label, where he collaborated with Williams on "Take It To Trial." He released his debut album, Gotti Outta Here, in 2020.
Kendrick got into an altercation with another inmate at the Fulton County jail in 2022. The other inmate allegedly attacked Kendrick with a knife.
Who is Shannon Stillwell?
Stillwell, also known as SB, is another co-defendant in the trial.
He is charged with murder and participation in a criminal street gang. He is also facing RICO charges and gun charges.
He was stabbed multiple times by an inmate at the Fulton County jail in 2023.
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