A new judge was appointed to Young Thug’s RICO trial, then they recused themselves too
Young Thug‘s months-long racketeering trial faces yet another hitch, just when it seemed that proceedings would resume with a new judge.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Shukura L. Ingram on Wednesday filed an order to recuse herself from the high-profile racketeering case, shortly after being assigned to replace Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville. Glanville had presided over the trial since it started in November but was ordered to leave it behind earlier this week after several defense attorneys filed motions calling for his recusal.
In the order, reviewed by The Times, Ingram said a former deputy assigned to her courtroom — Akeiba Stanley — for nearly six months had been arrested after she was accused of “colluding” with YSL co-defendant Christian Eppinger.
Stanley was charged in June 2023 with conspiracy to commit a felony, hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal, reckless conduct and violation of oath by a public officer. Eppinger was severed from the racketeering trial in June 2023.
The judge in Young Thug’s RICO case has been recused, further delaying the trial. That’s after an allegedly improper ex parte meeting that excluded the defense.
“Because this Court’s former assigned deputy could be called a witness in any future proceedings in this case, the Court may be called upon to assess this deputy’s credibility, or rule on matters related to her criminal prosecution,” the order said. “This may undermine the public’s confidence in the impartiality of proceedings.”
Ingram’s motion cites a rule from the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct: “Judges shall disqualify themselves in any proceeding in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Hours after Ingram filed her order, the Fulton County clerk assigned a third judge to the case — Paige Whitaker, local outlet WSB-TV Atlanta 2 reported Wednesday evening.
Brian Steel, a lawyer for Young Thug in the rapper’s RICO case, avoids an imminent 10 weekends in jail as a Georgia court stays a judge’s contempt finding.
Whitaker will be the latest judge to oversee the stop-and-go trial, which has been rife with delays. The trial began in November, a year after Young Thug (real name Jeffrey Williams) and several co-defendants, including Eppinger, were indicted in 2022 for their alleged involvement in the Atlanta criminal gang Young Slime Life, or YSL. Atlanta prosecutors accused Young Thug of being a founding member of YSL, which allegedly committed or conspired to commit a long list of crimes including murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, carjacking, theft and drug dealing.
Before the juggling of judges, the YSL trial previously faced multiple interruptions, including an online leak of a juror’s identity and a defendant’s stabbing in the Fulton County Jail.
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