Award-winning American rapper Young Thug has been released from jail after two years of a long-standing legal battle.

This comes after the hip-hop icon pleaded guilty in his YSL RICO trial on Tuesday the 29th of October 2024. His Co-defendant Quamarvious Nichols had also earlier agreed to a plea deal.

The rapper whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams pleaded no contest to RICO and gang leader counts, and pleaded guilty to the rest of his charges including two gun charges and three drug charges. The judge sentenced him to time served on several counts as well as 15 years of probation, which if successfully met would lead to the commutation of his service portion.

Thug after spending the past two years in jail spoke for the first time before his sentencing.

“I am a smart guy, I am a good guy, and I really got a good heart,” he told the judge. “I found myself in a lot of stuff because I was just nice and cool, and I understand you can’t be that way when you reach a certain height because it could end badly”

Thug changed his plea after Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker asked if he had agreed to a non-negotiated plea, meaning prosecutors and defence could not agree on a sentencing deal and the power to determine punishment turned over to the judge during the dramatic Tuesday hearing.

The rapper had earlier turned down a plea Georgia prosecutors previously offered him. That deal would have allowed him to walk free today for 15 years on probation, which if completed would have allowed him to avoid jail time, but would potentially put him behind bars for 23 years if he violated probation.

Young Thug was initially booked into jail in Georgia in May 2022 as part of a street gang bust. He was one of 28 people named in a 56-count indictment that included violation of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and participating in criminal street gang activity.

The case focused on YSL (“Young Slime Life”) which prosecutors claimed was a street gang that formed in 2012 in Atlanta. Thug was accused of being one of the three founders of YSL and was charged with two counts: conspiracy to violate RICO and participation in street gang activity.