ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Rapper Yak Gotti has rejected a plea deal in the ongoing Young Thug trial unlike several other co-defendants who took deals in the historically long trial.
Douglas Weinstein, Yak Gotti’s attorney, said Thursday that his client “fully intends to take this to the jury and get our not guilty verdicts and go home.”
Gotti, whose real name is Deamonte Kendrick, is a rapper signed to Young Thug’s record label, YSL. He is facing 12 counts, including charges related to racketeering, murder, guns, drugs and street gang participation.
Here’s who has taken plea deals so far in the Young Thug trial:
- Rodalius Ryan, aka “Lil Rod,” pleaded guilty to one count of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Ryan, who had been previously convicted of the 2019 murder of Jamari Holmes, is already serving a life sentence, and was sentenced to another 10 years in time served.
- Marquavius Huey, aka “Qua,” pleaded guilty to one count of RICO violation and accepted reduced sentences on charges of robbery and firearms possession charges. The robbery charge was reduced from armed robbery.
- Quamarvious Nichols, aka “Qua,” accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy of attempting to violate the RICO Act. In exchange, Fulton County prosecutors dropped the remaining charges of murder, participation in a criminal street gang, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with seven to be served on probation.
The plea deals came after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker recently halted the trial after defense attorneys objected to testimony from Wunnie Lee, aka Slimelife Shawty, who had reached a plea agreement in exchange for his testimony.
Opening statements were held in Young Thug’s trial on Nov. 27, 2023. The trial’s jury selection lasted longer than any other in Georgia history, and actual witness testimony itself will likely surpass state records…