Fulton County’s sprawling gang case against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and more than two dozen others might finally be over, but last year’s widely watched trial vaulted some of the city’s lesser-known prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges into the public sphere.
The longest criminal trial in Georgia history was broadcast on YouTube, amassing tens of thousands of followers who tuned in each weekday for more than a year to keep up with the never-ending drama.
Here’s a look at some of the key people involved in the case.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Young Thug
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, was the hip-hop superstar at the center of the state’s case. The Grammy winner’s arrest stunned the music world in the spring of 2022 when District Attorney Fani Willis alleged the Atlanta native was also the co-founder and leader of a criminal street gang.
Williams’ wardrobe and courtroom mannerisms were frequently captured on camera, to the delight of his fans watching online. As a result, some of his reactions to the courtroom drama were quickly transformed into widely shared GIFs, memes and other internet fodder.
Weeks into jury selection, a co-defendant walked up and allegedly handed him a painkiller in open court. The rapper’s attorneys denied any wrongdoing on the part of their client.
After nearly 2½ years behind bars, the rapper took a non-negotiated plea and was sentenced to 15 years probation. At his plea hearing, Williams apologized for his actions and vowed to do his best to help others in the future.
“I take responsibility for my crimes and my charges,” he told Judge Paige Reese Whitaker. “I hope that you allow me to go home and trust in me to do the right thing.”
As part of his sentence, he must stay away from metro Atlanta for a decade. Since his release, he has been seen courtside at Miami Heat and at Los Angeles Lakers basketball games.
He is also gearing up to release his first full album since pleading guilty and has a music festival appearances scheduled this summer.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Judge Ural Glanville
Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville handled the case in the beginning, presiding over 10 months of jury selection and the first seven months of trial before he was removed from the case. He made a series of decisions that had attorneys raising concerns, including his ruling denying bond to every defendant.
A meeting between Glanville, state prosecutors and a key witness ended up being the final straw for the jurist’s time on the case after Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, raised concerns about the meeting’s legality. Defense attorneys were not included in the conversation, Steel noted.
“You got some information you shouldn’t have gotten,” Glanville told Steel, later directing a courtroom deputy to take the attorney into custody.
“You’re not supposed to have communication with a witness who’s been sworn,” Steel snapped back, demanding a mistrial.
Renowned for his courtroom etiquette and his use of the term “honorable” when addressing judges and fellow attorneys, Steel was clearly incensed by the ex parte meeting, which he said amounted to coercion and witness intimidation.
“Supposedly this honorable court, or let me rephrase that, this court, said I can hold you until the end of this trial,” Steel said. The courtroom fell silent.
After Steel was briefly removed from the courtroom, Young Thug’s other attorney, Keith Adams, said he did not wish to continue without Steel present.
Glanville told Adams he “does not have that luxury” and instructed him to remain in the courtroom.
“You don’t get to extort the court,” Glanville said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
Glanville called the leaked information about the meeting “a violation of the sacrosanctness of the judge’s chambers.”
He ran unopposed for reelection in May 2024 and is still serving as Fulton’s chief judge. He is currently presiding over another high-profile case: the Atlanta Spa Shooter death penalty case.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Judge Paige Reese Whitaker
Judge Paige Reese Whitaker wasn’t supposed to be the judge inheriting the case after Glanville’s removal in July 2024. Judge Shukura Ingram was assigned to it but recused herself because one of her former courtroom deputies was involved in a romantic relationship with one of the defendants.
As a result, Whitaker took over the remainder of the trial and quickly changed the tone of what had been slow-moving proceedings, scolding prosecutors for what she called “really poor lawyering” and largely blaming them for the glacial pace of the trial.
She butted heads repeatedly with prosecutors, at one point requiring them to undergo remedial training on the importance of sharing evidence with defense attorneys “and other professional obligations.”
“I truly am struggling with whether all of this is purposeful or this is just really poor lawyering on the part of members of the state’s team,” Whitaker said. “Either way it’s really unfortunate. If it’s something other than poor lawyering, then it is more than unfortunate.”
Defense attorneys on the case credited Whitaker with making proceedings more fair, saying rulings had been slanted toward the state under Glanville.
“Judge Whitaker demonstrated that she could take a case that had been woefully mismanaged, bring justice to it and land that case successfully,” attorney Doug Weinstein said.
His client, Deamonte Kendrick, refused to take a plea deal and was the only defendant to be acquitted by the jury.
“Her skills and reputation have been rightfully recognized when maybe in the past they haven’t been,” Weinstein said.
Max Schardt, another attorney in the trial, said they were initially worried about Whitaker’s ability to take over the case midtrial. However, those worries quickly disappeared.
“Every time we discussed a matter, even things that had occurred well before she was involved in the case, she was always on top of it and knew exactly what was going on. I give her a lot of credit,” Schardt said.
Whitaker won reelection in 2022. The Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission submitted her name to Gov. Brian Kemp in May for consideration to fill a vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Fani Willis
The case against Young Thug was one of two high-profile racketeering suits District Attorney Fani Willis brought in recent years, as the prosecutor wields what she says is a powerful legal tool for going after organized illegal activity.
In May 2022, Willis called the YSL indictment a victory against crime. Her use of the state’s RICO statute has garnered some criticism — she also used it in an election interference case against President Donald Trump — but she has defended those actions, saying doing so “allows juries and the communities to see the complete picture of a crime.”
The Georgia Supreme Court is considering whether to keep in place an appellate court’s ruling that booted Willis from the Trump prosecution over an alleged conflict of interest triggered when she hired outside attorney Nathan Wade to work on the case. Willis was accused of having a romantic relationship with Wade.
Willis never appeared in court for any YSL proceedings but did show support to her lead prosecutor, Adriane Love, during trial. Willis replied to someone who sent an email criticizing Love’s handling of the trial. The reply was sent to members of the YSL prosecution team and Whitaker.
“Please ignore this foolishness,” Willis told Love in the reply. “You have no chance of losing your job and your service is greatly appreciated.”
Willis said the YSL prosecution was a win for the community because it resulted in convictions, even if those were for lesser charges than the high-profile murder charges she touted at the case’s outset.
The DA sailed to reelection in 2024, defeating Republican challenger Courtney Kramer with more than twice the votes.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Adriane Love
Adriane Love became the lead prosecutor in the YSL case after the departure of veteran prosecutor Don Geary to Gwinnett County. She is the chief deputy district attorney for Fulton County, overseeing the high profile cases and difficult witness location division.
Love was widely criticized for her handling of the slow moving trial and her demeanor in the courtroom, where she often had heated exchanges with other attorneys, primarily Young’s Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel.
During jury selection, prosecutors admitted to surveilling a potential juror for more a month because they didn’t believe he lived in Fulton County. In her opening statement, Love called Young Thug the “head of this gang” and said YSL was a violent gang responsible for a rash of thefts and shootings across the city.
On multiple occasions, defense attorneys tried to get Love removed from the case, but Glanville and Whitaker denied those requests. In the widely publicized email, Willis instructed her to “ignore the haters.”
“Folks who have never tried cases will always have nasty things to say,” Willis told her. “But, while they criticize you from the sidelines, they fear the arena. They are not risking life and limb to keep our community safe.”
Once Young Thug took a plea deal and left the case, Love took a back seat and was seen less in the courtroom, allowing other prosecutors to take the lead.
She did not give the state’s closing argument, and the jury acquitted the two remaining defendants of their most serious charges.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Brian Steel
Brian Steel, a prominent Atlanta criminal defense attorney, caught people’s attention during his opening statement when he told jurors Young Thug’s name stood for “Truly Humbled Under God.”
Steel has represented the rapper for years, and his work on this case has bolstered his profile nationally.
Among his more memorable moments was when Steel was held in contempt by Glanville after refusing to divulge how he learned of the secret ex parte meeting. When Glanville told him he would have to spend weekends in jail, Steel’s only request was that he be locked up alongside his client so they could work on their case.
The contempt charge prompted several defense lawyers and others to come to Steel’s defense, and his sentence was eventually dismissed by the Georgia Supreme Court.
His notoriety skyrocketed during the trial, and chart-topping rapper Drake named a song after the defense lawyer on a recent album. Steel was also seen modeling clothes for Young Thug’s fashion line.
After Young Thug took a plea, Steel and co-defense attorney Adams traveled down to Brunswick to represent Jackie Johnson, the former Glynn County DA who had been accused of hindering the investigation into Ahmaud Arbery’s murder. That trial ended with both of her charges being dropped. More recently, Steel began defending Sean “Diddy” Combs in the rapper’s New York sex trafficking trial.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Shannon Stillwell
Shannon Stillwell was one of two defendants who did not take a plea deal and took their charges with a jury verdict. He was convicted of a single gun charge but acquitted of the most serious offenses, including murder. He was subsequently released on probation.
Stillwell was stabbed in jail in December 2023, delaying proceedings for weeks as he recovered.
Schardt, his attorney, said Stillwell is doing well and taking advantage of being able to see his kids and family. As part of his probation, Stillwell is not allowed to return to metro Atlanta.
“From my perspective, he’s doing well and he’s trying to readjust back into society and the community,” Schardt said. “He’s doing his best, and he’s in contact with his family and becoming a family man that I know he can be.”
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
Deamonte Kendrick
Deamonte Kendrick, who raps under the name Yak Gotti, was the only defendant acquitted on all charges, yet he remained in jail for months after because of pending charges.
While awaiting a verdict in the case in December 2024, Kendrick was stabbed by an inmate. However, he remained in jail until April 2025 when he plead guilty to a single count of aggravated battery stemming from a fight last year at the Rice Street jail.
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