Young Thug has secured a major legal win in Georgia, as a Fulton County judge has ordered the state to return roughly $149,000 in cash, multiple luxury vehicles, and other seized property tied to the long-running YSL RICO case. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker reaffirmed an earlier order and set a hard deadline for prosecutors to return the rapper’s assets by 5 p.m. on a Friday, after finding there was no legal basis to keep holding the property now that the criminal proceedings have concluded and the high-profile YSL trial has ended without murder convictions for the core defendants.[2][1]
The seized items—valued at about $150,000 in cash, cars, jewelry, and other belongings—were initially taken when Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, was arrested in May 2022 as part of a sweeping RICO and gang indictment targeting alleged Young Slime Life associates in Fulton County.[1][2] Fox 5 Atlanta reports that Whitaker issued a sharply worded order in the related civil forfeiture case, finding that the state’s repeated delays and failure to properly move forward with its appeal were “unreasonable and inexcusable,” and that the prolonged seizure of Williams’ property unfairly prejudiced him.[1] According to the AJC, prosecutors from District Attorney Fani Willis’ office were found to have misled the court about steps taken to obtain a necessary transcript for their appeal, further undercutting their bid to keep the assets.[2]
Because civil forfeiture in Georgia is treated as a quasi-criminal process that must be strictly construed against the state, Whitaker ruled that the money, vehicles, and jewelry must be returned “promptly and without liens,” and barred any further appeal from delaying that process.[1] Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel confirmed to the AJC that prosecutors met the court’s deadline and returned the property to the rapper.[2] The latest ruling comes after the wider YSL RICO saga wound down: Young Thug resolved his own charges in 2024 with a negotiated plea, while the final co-defendants were acquitted of the most serious counts, bringing the sprawling case to a close without the major convictions prosecutors once sought.[1][3]
The order to release Young Thug’s luxury cars and six-figure cash haul marks a significant post-trial victory for the Atlanta star, whose case drew national scrutiny over the use of rap lyrics as evidence and the broader criminalization of hip-hop culture.[1] With his assets reportedly back in his possession and the courtroom drama largely behind him, the decision underscores how the collapse of the YSL RICO effort and the state’s missteps in the forfeiture fight have shifted momentum in Williams’ favor, potentially shaping future challenges to aggressive asset-seizure tactics in high-profile music industry cases.[1][2]
