Latest news with #YoungSlimeLife
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Final defendant in YSL case pleads guilty
The remaining defendant in the sweeping Young Slime Life gang RICO case pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges. Christian Eppinger, also known as Big Bhris, entered into a non-negotiated plea that will not add prison time to what he was serving. He was sentenced to 75 years, with 40 to serve concurrently with his previous 45-year sentence. The charges stemmed from a number of crimes that occurred between 2016-22, including the attempted murder of APD Officer David Rodgers. Prosecutors said Eppinger shot Rodgers six times in 2022. Channel 2's Michael Seiden will have more on Channel 2 Action News at Noon. RELATED STORIES: Fulton County prosecutors ask to have Young Thug's probation revoked Prosecution rests after nearly year-long case against YSL YSL RICO jury returns to hear testimony after 2 remaining co-defendants refused plea offers Young Thug released from Fulton County Jail after non-negotiated plea in YSL trial Last public defender in YSL trial moves to withdraw as counsel, says she can't earn 'livable wage' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
CTV News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Long-running Young Thug gang trial to end without any murder convictions
ATLANTA — Three years after Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 27 others were indicted on gang and racketeering charges, followed by a long, problem-plagued trial, nobody will be convicted of murder. When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment in May 2022, she said her office was cracking down on a violent street gang responsible for multiple killings run by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. But Willis dropped the only remaining murder charge Monday after defendant Demise McMullen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault. Young Thug went home Oct. 31 after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges and remains on probation. Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others founded the street gang Young Slime Life, which was associated with the Bloods street gang, in 2012. The 33-year-old artist has a record label called Young Stoner Life, which prosecutors alleged was tied to Young Slime Life. A long and controversial trial Prosecutors drew ire for using song lyrics and social media posts in their case. Attorney Doug Weinstein, who represented defendant Deamonte Kendrick, who raps under the name Yak Gotti, said prosecutors targeted men who pursued music as a way out of hardship in economically 'deprived' Atlanta areas and tried to 'claw them back in, hold them back down.' 'Whatever they may have done in their youth, and I would argue most of them didn't do anything, to be targeted in this way by the prosecutors is just wrong,' said Weinstein. 'Whatever you think of their music — the violence, the misogynistic lyrics — that is not a reason to go after these guys.' Weinstein continued, adding, 'People like my client, Mr. Kendrick, had to be incarcerated for 2 1/2 years or more, in the case of some of these defendants, for a crime that they didn't do.' Kendrick was stabbed in jail. He was one of two defendants who didn't take plea deals, and the only one cleared of all charges, including a murder charge in the 2015 drive-by shooting death of rival gang member Donovan Thomas Jr., known as 'Big Nut.' In a statement to The Associated Press, Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said 'anti-gang efforts' have yielded 'over 400 convictions of gang members' since Willis became district attorney, including 19 people in this case. Those efforts were 'key' in making Fulton County 'safer, taking dangerous offenders off the streets and sending a message that gang activity will not be tolerated in our community,' he said. Willis prosecuted the case using Georgia's broad anti-racketeering law. Critics say using that law caused a messy trial by roping in dozens of people with varying levels of alleged culpability. The anti-racketeering law allows prosecutors to present evidence that might otherwise not be allowed, which some defense attorneys say lets prosecutors present irrelevant material to the jury. It also often leads to people being held in jail longer for multiple reasons. 'It made everything so much more complicated and cumbersome,' said Max Schardt, defense attorney for defendant Shannon Stillwell. No 'home run' Stillwell was among five codefendants who stood trial alongside Young Thug beginning in November 2023. After Young Thug and the others entered guilty pleas, Stillwell and Kendrick were the only ones who took their chances with a jury. They were found not guilty of racketeering, murder and gang-related charges in December. Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession. The verdict came nearly two years after jury selection began. Nine other defendants, including the rapper Gunna, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. Twelve defendants were split from the original trial, and charges against six of them were dismissed in early December. Another recently got a murder charge dismissed after entering an Alford plea, which allows him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that it is in his best interest to plead guilty. McMullen, who was also charged with murder in Thomas' killing, entered an Alford plea to a lesser aggravated assault charge and another count of violating the anti-racketeering law. A judge in this case sentenced him to 40 years, with 20 to be served in confinement at the same time as the sentence he's already serving, and 20 suspended for time served. That leaves one remaining defendant who is accused of shooting and wounding an Atlanta police officer in February 2022 while on probation. His fate is expected to be determined soon. Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who was not involved in the case, said Willis could have secured guilty pleas years ago without a long, expensive trial if she hadn't used the anti-racketeering law. 'She went for a home run, and she didn't get it,' said Fleischman. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Charlotte Kramon, The Associated Press
The Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Long-running Young Thug gang trial to end without any murder convictions
Three years after Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 27 others were indicted on gang and racketeering charges, followed by a long, problem-plagued trial, nobody will be convicted of murder. When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment in May 2022, she said her office was cracking down on a violent street gang responsible for multiple killings run by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. But Willis dropped the only remaining murder charge Monday after defendant Demise McMullen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault. Young Thug went home Oct. 31 after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges and remains on probation. Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others founded the street gang Young Slime Life, which was associated with the Bloods street gang, in 2012. The 33-year-old artist has a record label called Young Stoner Life, which prosecutors alleged was tied to Young Slime Life. A long and controversial trial Prosecutors drew ire for using song lyrics and social media posts in their case. Attorney Doug Weinstein, who represented defendant Deamonte Kendrick, who raps under the name Yak Gotti, said prosecutors targeted men who pursued music as a way out of hardship in economically 'deprived' Atlanta areas and tried to 'claw them back in, hold them back down.' 'Whatever they may have done in their youth, and I would argue most of them didn't do anything, to be targeted in this way by the prosecutors is just wrong,' said Weinstein. 'Whatever you think of their music — the violence, the misogynistic lyrics — that is not a reason to go after these guys.' Weinstein continued, adding, ' People like my client, Mr. Kendrick, had to be incarcerated for 2 1/2 years or more, in the case of some of these defendants, for a crime that they didn't do." Kendrick was stabbed in jail. He was one of two defendants who didn't take plea deals, and the only one cleared of all charges, including a murder charge in the 2015 drive-by shooting death of rival gang member Donovan Thomas Jr., known as 'Big Nut.' In a statement to The Associated Press, Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said 'anti-gang efforts' have yielded 'over 400 convictions of gang members" since Willis became district attorney, including 19 people in this case. Those efforts were 'key' in making Fulton County "safer, taking dangerous offenders off the streets and sending a message that gang activity will not be tolerated in our community,' he said. Willis prosecuted the case using Georgia's broad anti-racketeering law. Critics say using that law caused a messy trial by roping in dozens of people with varying levels of alleged culpability. The anti-racketeering law allows prosecutors to present evidence that might otherwise not be allowed, which some defense attorneys say lets prosecutors present irrelevant material to the jury. It also often leads to people being held in jail longer for multiple reasons. 'It made everything so much more complicated and cumbersome,' said Max Schardt, defense attorney for defendant Shannon Stillwell. No 'home run' Stillwell was among five codefendants who stood trial alongside Young Thug beginning in November 2023. After Young Thug and the others entered guilty pleas, Stillwell and Kendrick were the only ones who took their chances with a jury. They were found not guilty of racketeering, murder and gang-related charges in December. Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession. The verdict came nearly two years after jury selection began. Nine other defendants, including the rapper Gunna, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. Twelve defendants were split from the original trial, and charges against six of them were dismissed in early December. Another recently got a murder charge dismissed after entering an Alford plea, which allows him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that it is in his best interest to plead guilty. McMullen, who was also charged with murder in Thomas' killing, entered an Alford plea to a lesser aggravated assault charge and another count of violating the anti-racketeering law. A judge in this case sentenced him to 40 years, with 20 to be served in confinement at the same time as the sentence he's already serving, and 20 suspended for time served. That leaves one remaining defendant who is accused of shooting and wounding an Atlanta police officer in February 2022 while on probation. His fate is expected to be determined soon. Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who was not involved in the case, said Willis could have secured guilty pleas years ago without a long, expensive trial if she hadn't used the anti-racketeering law. 'She went for a home run, and she didn't get it,' said Fleischman. ___
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Long-running Young Thug gang trial to end without any murder convictions
ATLANTA (AP) — Three years after Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 27 others were indicted on gang and racketeering charges, followed by a long, problem-plagued trial, nobody will be convicted of murder. When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment in May 2022, she said her office was cracking down on a violent street gang responsible for multiple killings run by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. But Willis dropped the only remaining murder charge Monday after defendant Demise McMullen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault. Young Thug went home Oct. 31 after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges and remains on probation. Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others founded the street gang Young Slime Life, which was associated with the Bloods street gang, in 2012. The 33-year-old artist has a record label called Young Stoner Life, which prosecutors alleged was tied to Young Slime Life. A long and controversial trial Prosecutors drew ire for using song lyrics and social media posts in their case. Attorney Doug Weinstein, who represented defendant Deamonte Kendrick, who raps under the name Yak Gotti, said prosecutors targeted men who pursued music as a way out of hardship in economically 'deprived' Atlanta areas and tried to 'claw them back in, hold them back down.' 'Whatever they may have done in their youth, and I would argue most of them didn't do anything, to be targeted in this way by the prosecutors is just wrong,' said Weinstein. 'Whatever you think of their music — the violence, the misogynistic lyrics — that is not a reason to go after these guys.' Weinstein continued, adding, 'People like my client, Mr. Kendrick, had to be incarcerated for 2 1/2 years or more, in the case of some of these defendants, for a crime that they didn't do.' Kendrick was stabbed in jail. He was one of two defendants who didn't take plea deals, and the only one cleared of all charges, including a murder charge in the 2015 drive-by shooting death of rival gang member Donovan Thomas Jr., known as 'Big Nut.' In a statement to The Associated Press, Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said 'anti-gang efforts' have yielded 'over 400 convictions of gang members' since Willis became district attorney, including 19 people in this case. Those efforts were 'key' in making Fulton County 'safer, taking dangerous offenders off the streets and sending a message that gang activity will not be tolerated in our community,' he said. Willis prosecuted the case using Georgia's broad anti-racketeering law. Critics say using that law caused a messy trial by roping in dozens of people with varying levels of alleged culpability. The anti-racketeering law allows prosecutors to present evidence that might otherwise not be allowed, which some defense attorneys say lets prosecutors present irrelevant material to the jury. It also often leads to people being held in jail longer for multiple reasons. 'It made everything so much more complicated and cumbersome,' said Max Schardt, defense attorney for defendant Shannon Stillwell. No 'home run' Stillwell was among five codefendants who stood trial alongside Young Thug beginning in November 2023. After Young Thug and the others entered guilty pleas, Stillwell and Kendrick were the only ones who took their chances with a jury. They were found not guilty of racketeering, murder and gang-related charges in December. Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession. The verdict came nearly two years after jury selection began. Nine other defendants, including the rapper Gunna, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. Twelve defendants were split from the original trial, and charges against six of them were dismissed in early December. Another recently got a murder charge dismissed after entering an Alford plea, which allows him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that it is in his best interest to plead guilty. McMullen, who was also charged with murder in Thomas' killing, entered an Alford plea to a lesser aggravated assault charge and another count of violating the anti-racketeering law. A judge in this case sentenced him to 40 years, with 20 to be served in confinement at the same time as the sentence he's already serving, and 20 suspended for time served. That leaves one remaining defendant who is accused of shooting and wounding an Atlanta police officer in February 2022 while on probation. His fate is expected to be determined soon. Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who was not involved in the case, said Willis could have secured guilty pleas years ago without a long, expensive trial if she hadn't used the anti-racketeering law. 'She went for a home run, and she didn't get it,' said Fleischman. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' lawyer seeks to undermine mogul's former assistant at NYC sex trafficking trial
NEW YORK — Sean 'Diddy' Combs' defense team Friday sought to undermine claims by the mogul's former assistant that he raped, sexually assaulted and otherwise abused her throughout her employment. Mia, the second of three alleged victims slated to testify at Combs' Manhattan federal court trial, under questioning by prosecutors Thursday, said he had habitually traumatized her after her hiring in 2009. She has taken the stand under a pseudonym, and the judge has ordered members of the press and public not to sketch her likeness. The former assistant alleged Combs sexually assaulted her at his 40th birthday party at The Plaza hotel in Manhattan in 2009, raped her not long after at his Los Angeles home, forced her to perform oral sex at another one of his California properties, and targeted her on other occasions that her memory was foggy about. Seeking to cast doubt on Mia's accounts on cross-examination, Combs' defense attorney Brian Steel on Friday pulled up several effusive social media posts she had published online, like saying that Combs inspired her and was one of her greatest friends in an Instagram post for his 40th, which also said, 'I love you.' Mia said the social media site was a place to make it look like she had a great life, even if it wasn't. Of a 2013 image of Mia, Combs and Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura at a music festival, Steel asked, 'You're standing right next to and leaning toward him — the man who terrorized you?' 'Yes,' Mia said. In addition to the alleged sexual assaults, Mia on Thursday further accused Combs of leaving her with PTSD by subjecting her to regular physical and emotional abuse, frequently berating her and hurling objects at her like a computer, a bowl of spaghetti and his phone. Mia said she'd seen Combs violently targeting Ventura many times and corroborated several such accounts the 'Me & U' singer told jurors when she took the stand. 'Weren't you living in fear of the man who took your innocence?' Steel asked Mia at another point in his cross-exam, pressing her on photos and social media activity. 'I was in fear anytime Puff was not happy, yes,' she said. 'Because I wanted to make sure I was safe.' Later, asked how she could refer to her alleged assailant as a friend, Mia said the dynamic was complicated. 'He was vulnerable with me quite a bit, so I would feel responsible for helping him and then I would feel bad for him. I don't know,' Mia said. 'I mean, I can describe it, but I'm not a psychologist or a therapist.' Steel notably represented Jeffery 'Young Thug' Williams in the Young Slime Life racketeering case, the longest criminal trial held in Georgia. The rapper's case resulted in him pleading guilty last year to drug, gun, and gang charges and effectively receiving a lenient term of time served. Combs, 55, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, transporting individuals for prostitution and related offenses. He has pleaded not guilty. The entrepreneur's lawyers have acknowledged he committed domestic violence but say he's innocent of the crimes charged. The Bad Boy Records co-founder, who launched the careers of iconic artists like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige, was long considered among the most influential figures in the hip-hop industry and amassed hundreds of millions of dollars through his various businesses, including his music and media companies and clothing brand Sean John. Starting in the 1990s, his annual star-studded 'White Party' in East Hampton, Long Island, hosted some of the most famous names on the planet, and by 2017, Forbes estimated he was nearing billionaire status. Prosecutors say that behind the veil, from 2004 to 2024, Combs' lifestyle was criminal and involved regularly coercing vulnerable women in his orbit into dayslong, dehumanizing sexual performances with random men found on the internet, recordings of which were used as blackmail. They allege a network of staff helped bring his twisted fantasies to life, keep victims compliant, and invoke fear in anyone who challenged him through sex trafficking, forced labor, bribery, obstruction of justice, kidnapping and arson. In addition to Ventura and Mia, the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office is expected to call a single mom who alleges she was coerced into sexual performances by Combs. She will testify under the pseudonym Jane. _____
