RAPPER Gunna was arrested alongside Young Thug and 26 others on gang-related charges in May 2022.
The group of men were accused of being members of the YSL gang.
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Who is Gunna?
Gunna is a popular rapper who was born on June 14, 1993, in College Park, Georgia.
He is signed to Young Thug's record label YSL Records, as well as 300 Entertainment and Atlantic Records.
The rapper, whose real name is Sergio Giavanni Kitchens, rose to fame after he was featured on Young Thug's "Floyd Mayweather" alongside Gucci Mane and Travis Scott.
The single reached No 41 on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart and was enough to propel Gunna to relative fame.
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Why was Gunna arrested?
Gunna was arrested on May 11, 2022, on charges of participation in street gang activity and conspiring to violate the state's RICO Act.
The 56-count indictment ran a whopping 88 pages long, according to TheNew York Times.
"It does not matter what your notoriety is or what your fame is," Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement via Fox5 Atlanta.
"If you come to Fulton County, Georgia and you commit crimes - and certainly if those crimes are in furtherance of a street gang - then you will become a target and focus of this district attorney's office and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
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Young Thug, Yak Gotti, PeeWee Roscoe, and Young Thug’s brother Unfoonk were also indicted.
Following the viral arrest, Young Thug's lawyer denied the allegations, stating this his client "committed no crime whatsoever," and that he will "fight till his last drop of blood to clear him," according to Fox5 Atlanta.
He wasfirst deniedbail in May after pleading not guilty to the charges against him.
However, he later changed his plea to guilty in December 2022 and was sentenced to five years, according to WSB-TV.
One of the five years is to be served in prison, but because he has already served time, he will be released.
The remaining four years of the sentence have been suspended.
“While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case and have absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way,” the rapper said in a statement.
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What was Gunna charged with?
The indictment defined YSL as a “criminal street gang” that was founded in 2012 with an affiliation with the Bloods - a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California.
While all 28 defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate RICO, Gunna and Thug's fellow defendants faced additional charges including armed robbery, aggravated assault, drugs, and weapons charges.
The indictment also claimed that Gunna was wearing chains that read “YSL” and “Slatt” in the video for his Lil Keed collaboration “Fox 5.”
Prosecutors argued that his wardrobe in the video and the line “we got ten-hundred round choppers” amount to “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
The indictment alleged Gunna and other YSL members engaged in the activities including:
- Preserving, protecting, and enhancing the reputation, power, and territory of the enterprise by the posting of messages, images, videos, and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and a willingness to engage in violence on its behalf;
- Maintaining armed individuals ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance the reputation, power, and territory of the enterprise through the use of violence;
- Obtaining money, weapons, and other property through acts of racketeering activity, including robbery, theft, and the unlawful sale and distribution of drugs;
- Obstructing law enforcement investigations and court proceedings through witness intimidation and attacks upon law enforcement officers.
Some members have also been charged with other violent crimes including murder and attempted armed robbery.
Fellow rapper, Young Thug, wasdenied bondin June 2022 after a judge cited "significant concern" that he would be a danger to the community.
Authorities accused him of renting a car that was used to carry out a 2015 drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of 26-year-old Donovan Thomas.
Is Gunna involved in the YSL Rico Case?
Gunna claimed that he didn’t consider YSL to be a gang when he joined in 2016.
Instead, he claimed it to be “more like a group of people from metro Atlanta who had common interests and artistic aspirations."
He said: “My focus of YSL was entertainment - rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community.”
He added that he cherishes his link to YSL music and always will.
But the YSL Rico cases' indictment identified Young Thug, Gunna as well as 26 other associates as members of the "criminal street gang," reported Vulture.
Gunna didn't confess to his alleged crimes, but instead entered an Alford plea which gives the rapper the right to maintain his innocence while admitting that he could be potentially found guilty if tried.
Gunna pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act on December 14, per the terms of the deal.
Footage of the plea hearing shows the Georgia native acknowledging his association with YSL while confirming that the group partially functions as a gang.
Gunnawas reportedly sentenced to five years inprison, according toWSB-TV.
One of his five years was to be served in prison, but because he had already served time, he was released.
The remaining balance of the sentence had been suspended too, meaning he was released from custody and as part of the deal, the rapper was slapped with 500 hours of community service.
“While I have agreed to always be truthful, I want to make it perfectly clear that I have NOT made any statements, have NOT been interviewed, have NOT cooperated, have NOT agreed to testify or be a witness for or against any party in the case," Gunna said.
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He added that he has "absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way,” in a statement following the sentencing.
Gunna swore in his plea agreement that he has personal knowledge that members and people associated with YSL committed crimes for the gang and that "YSL as a gang must end."
