Young Thug’s attorney ordered to jail after being held in contempt of court during rapper’s trial

Young Thug’s lawyer has been ordered to spend 10 weekends in jail after being held in contempt of court during the rapper’s tumultuous racketeering trial. Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville held Brian Steel, the attorney representing the rapper, in contempt on Monday after the lawyer refused to disclose a source of information to the judge, according to news reports by AP, The Washington Post, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Steel claimed he’d heard about a meeting wherein the judge and prosecutors told witness Kenneth Copeland — an important Young Thug associate also known as Lil Woody — that he would have to spend more time in jail if he did not take the stand. Glanville repeatedly asked Steel how he’d heard about this private meeting, and Steel refused to name his source, arguing that naming them could might violate both attorney-client privilege and “work product” privilege, which led the judge to find him in contempt. Reps for Young Thug and Steel’s law firm did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment. Steel filed a motion to appeal the contempt charge, arguing that since the information about the meeting had not been deemed confidential, the court “has imposed an illegal and inherently inconsistent punishment for this criminal contempt,” according to AP. He also said that the meeting between the prosecutors, judge, and Copeland was “coercion, witness intimidation, ex parte communications that we have a constitutional right to be present for.” Copeland had previously been held in contempt after invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate after he had already had an immunity deal. Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was arrested in May 2022 and charged with conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity. The rapper was hit with six additional felony charges, including drug and firearm charges, in August 2022. Young Thug is standing trial with five other defendants who were indicted alongside him. The Fulton District Attorney claims that Williams, who won the Grammy for Song of the Year for Childish Gambino’s “This is America,” founded a street gang and used his record label Young Slime Life Records to promote it. Sign up for Entertainment Weekly’s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. Steel will spend the 10 weekends from June 14 to Aug. 18 in jail. The lawyer requested that he serve his time at the facility where Young Thug is being held, Cobb County Jail, so they can work on the case during the weekends.