Remaining YSL Defendants Found Not Guilty in RICO Trial
Yak Gotti is acquitted, while Shannon Stillwell is sentenced to time served on a gun charge.
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The two remaining defendants in the YSL trial, Yak Gotti and Shannon Stillwell, have been found not guilty on RICO charges, concluding a dramatic, long-running case continuing to make waves in Atlanta’s hip-hop scene. Yak Gotti, a rapper born Deamonte Kendrick, was acquitted of all charges, including a murder count for a 2015 killing. Stillwell, meanwhile, was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and acquitted of all remaining charges, including the same 2015 murder count and a 2022 murder count. He was sentenced to time served and probation. Both men were full of emotion upon the verdict with Yak Gotti making the sign of the cross and Stillwell hugging his attorney, Max Schardt. It was an especially relieving moment for Gotti, who was stabbed in jail on December 1. He appeared in court with stitches on his forehead, and his attorney said he was expected to make a full recovery.
The jury began deliberating the afternoon of November 26, then continued deliberating for most of the day November 27 before a break for Thanksgiving. They continued December 2 before the jury reached its verdict this morning. Throughout deliberations, the jury had asked to see videos from both killings, to relisten to a jail call, and to hear two YSL songs.
The verdict comes a month after another dramatic moment for the trial, in which four of the original six defendants took plea deals. That included central defendant Young Thug, whom prosecutors tried to paint as the leader of a criminal street gang via his record label, YSL. Thug, born Jeffery Williams, pleaded no contest to the RICO charge and guilty to other assorted charges in a non-negotiated plea and was able to walk free under heavy probation restrictions. Defendants Quamarvious Nichols, Marquavius Huey, and Rodalius Ryan were all given favorable prison sentences for their pleas.
Jury selection for the trial began in January 2023 and took months, owing to issues finding jurors who could commit to a complicated, monthslong trial. Opening statements finally began on November 27, 2023. Another delay came this July, when the trial’s original judge, Ural Glanville, was recused over a secret meeting with a witness and prosecutors. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker took over the case, bringing jurors back in August after a nearly two-month pause in the trial with the aim of increasing speed and efficiency. The verdict makes good on Whitaker’s promise for the case to be over by the end of the year. But it’s far from the end of YSL prosecutions in Atlanta with 12 more separate defendants still awaiting trial.
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