Brian Steel, an attorney representing Young Thug in his Georgia RICO trial, was taken into custody and sentenced to 20 days in jail after refusing to disclose how he learned about a private meeting between the judge, prosecutors, and one of the state’s witnesses, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Judge Ural Glanville, who is presiding over the trial, held Steel in contempt after the lawyer repeatedly refused to share how he learned of the meeting. Steel was subsequently sentenced to 20 days in Cobb County Jail, which he will serve out over the next 10 weekends. Steel asked that he share a cell with Young Thug so that they could work together on the case, a request that Judge Glanville approved.
The witness, Kenneth Copeland, had earlier spent the weekend in jail after refusing to testify despite receiving an immunity deal that was contingent on his testimony. On Monday, Copeland agreed to take the stand after meeting with the judge and prosecutors behind closed doors.
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After learning of the meeting, Steel confronted Judge Glanville, alleging that Copeland had been coerced and threatened with additional jail time during the meeting, and called for a mistrial. “What I want to know is why wasn’t I there,” Steel asked the judge.
Judge Glanville called the disclosure of the meeting “such a violation of the sacrosanctness of the judge’s chambers.”
Young Thug arrested and charged in May 2022 as part of a sprawling 56-count criminal indictement related to gang activity, and has remained in custody since then. His trial officially got underway in November 2023 and is expected to run through early 2024, as the prosecution intends to call over 200 witnesses.
FULL HEATED ARGUMENT 🚨‼️
Judge Ural Granville and Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel.#YoungThug #RICOTrial #Law pic.twitter.com/AoTASWSRFN
— The progress report (@Theprogressrep2) June 10, 2024