Thanks to a legal technicality, Young Thug is getting his stuff back

Williams’ attorney Brian Steel said the clock to hold the hearing started June 9, when the final defendant charged in the sprawling YSL case pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison.

“The prosecutor has to either seek a continuance or try the case within 60 days,” Steel argued. “That did not happen.”

Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC

Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC

Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker agreed, saying she had “no option” but to grant the dismissal on procedural grounds.

“There was no request at any time for a good cause finding to move the hearing date outside of the windows that are statutorily required,” Whitaker explained, dismissing the forfeiture case from the bench.

Fulton prosecutors said part of the reason the hearing was delayed was that Steel spent two months in New York City representing Sean “Diddy” Combs in the musician’s federal sex trafficking trial.

Steel, however, said he wasn’t required to notify the state that Monday’s hearing had been scheduled for after the 60-day deadline.

In a statement, a spokesperson for District Attorney Fani Willis’ office said they were “perplexed” that Whitaker dismissed the case based on a timeline requested by Williams’ defense team and a hearing date the judge selected.

“We are evaluating the case now for possible appeal considering that strange procedural history,” spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said.

The ruling marks yet another blow to the DA’s office, which was widely criticized for its handling of what became the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.

The YSL case, which initially included 28 defendants, officially ended in June without a single murder conviction.

Nineteen of the defendants ended up pleading guilty, including Young Thug, who prosecutors alleged was the co-founder and leader of the Atlanta-based gang. Willis has defended her decision to bring the case, calling it an effective gang prosecution that helped make the community safer.

Williams, who pleaded guilty on Halloween night, was sentenced to 15 years’ probation and initially banished from metro Atlanta for a decade. He is required to return to his home city four times per year as part of his sentence for a “live anti-gang and anti-gun violence presentation” or benefit concert at a grade school, middle school, Boys & Girls Club or similar group. He attended the first of such events earlier this month at a local school.

The rapper, who now lives in Miami, celebrated his 34th birthday over the weekend. He did not attend Monday’s hearing.

His attorney Keith Adams said Whitaker made the right decision in dismissing the civil forfeiture case.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

“This is the appropriate outcome,” Adams said afterward. “We think that just as ridiculous as the criminal trial was, we think the attempt to steal his property was just as ridiculous.”

The list of items set to be returned to Williams includes $149,426 in cash, an assortment of high-end jewelry and nine vehicles: a 2022 Corvette, a 2022 Porsche, a 2021 Maybach, a 2018 Lamborghini, two other Mercedes, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Dodge Durango and a Can-Am Spyder.

At least six guns were also seized by authorities, court filings show, but Williams won’t be getting those back since he’s no longer allowed to possess firearms. The DA’s office also said Williams won’t be receiving his YSL-themed jewelry, which prosecutors called “gang-related.”