BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned that rapper Young Thug faces legal problems involving a gun and drugs beyond those included in Fulton County’s sweeping gang indictment this week.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne obtained body camera footage of a Brookhaven police stop involving both Young Thug and fellow rapper Gunna.
The rappers, whose real names are Jeffrey Williams and Sergio Kitchens respectively, were two of 28 people indicted on racketeering charges this week in a gang indictment dating back to 2012. The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office says that Williams, Kitchens and other alleged members of the Young Slime Life gang, which Williams cofounded, may be responsible for up to 85% of violent crime in the city.
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A day after Young Thug was arrested, rapper Gunna turned himself in to police.
Lawyers for both men have suggested that they are innocent. But Winne has learned that this isn’t the first time the pair has been linked in a criminal case.
Documents that Winne obtained reveal that Kitchens was indicted alongside Williams and another man in DeKalb County in 2018. The charges stemmed from a 2017 vehicle stop by Brookhaven Police near Peachtree DeKalb Airport.
Body camera video shows Young Thug’s reaction to the prospect of being arrested.
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“I’m a real superstar,” the rapper says in the footage. “I got kids and everything. I don’t need nobody sending me to (expletive) jail right now.”
The arresting officer disagrees.
“You got dope, you got money, you got guns. Trifecta,” he says.
Young Thug was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of hydrocodone with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of amphetamine, possession of alprazolam, two counts of possession of codeine and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
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A transcript of the arrest showed that the third suspect, who wasn’t named, claimed that everything that was pulled from the car was his.
The rapper pled not guilty to the charges.
A DeKalb Judge ruled that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence that a law was being violated when Brookhaven police pulled the car over. The judge ruled that all evidence, including statements, firearms and supposed drugs must be suppressed.
A Georgia Court of Appeals opinion indicated that the state appealed, and the appeals court reversed the decision. Now, the case is still pending. Prosecutors are waiting for the court to set that case on the calendar.
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