Young Thug has reportedly won a major post-trial victory as a Georgia judge ordered authorities to return several seized cars and approximately $149,000 in cash following his acquittal in the high-profile YSL RICO case in Fulton County, Georgia. According to multiple reports, the ruling comes after the conclusion of the long-running racketeering trial that placed the Atlanta rapper and his Young Stoner Life collective under intense legal and public scrutiny.
The decision marks a significant setback for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office, which first brought the sweeping RICO indictment against Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, and more than two dozen others in May 2022. According to court records and local Atlanta reporting, authorities seized luxury vehicles and large sums of cash during the initial raid and subsequent investigations into alleged gang activity tied to the YSL imprint and its associates. Those assets are now being ordered back to the rapper following the not-guilty verdict on the remaining charges he faced at trial.
The YSL RICO trial, widely described as one of the longest-running and most closely watched criminal cases in Georgia history, began jury selection in early 2023 and moved into full trial by late November 2023.[1][2] Prosecutors alleged that YSL functioned as a criminal street gang behind a series of violent crimes, while the defense maintained that Young Thug was a legitimate artist whose lyrics and lifestyle had been misinterpreted and criminalized. Over the course of the proceedings, numerous co-defendants accepted plea deals, and others were ultimately acquitted on key counts, underscoring the prosecution’s mixed results.[1][2][3]
Young Thug’s reported recovery of his vehicles and $149,000 in cash follows the unraveling of major portions of the state’s original theory, and it further intensifies scrutiny of Willis’ aggressive use of Georgia’s RICO statute against hip-hop artists. Legal analysts have noted that asset seizures are typically justified only if prosecutors can connect the property to proven criminal activity; with a jury clearing the rapper on the remaining racketeering charges, the basis for holding his cars and cash has effectively collapsed. The order not only restores significant property to Young Thug but also raises broader questions about how far prosecutors can go in targeting artists and their earnings in future RICO and gang cases involving hip-hop.
