Judge Ural Glanville is reportedly holding Young Thug’s lawyer, Brian Steel, in criminal contempt of court, and sentenced him to 10 weekends in the Fulton County Jail on Monday.
Steel will reportedly spend 20 days behind bars after confronting Glanville about an alleged secret meeting he had in chambers with prosecutors and one of the state’s star witnesses. Glanville told Steel to divulge the source that tipped him off to the alleged meeting and cautioned that he’d be held in contempt if he did not comply, but Steel refused to reveal how he obtained information about the private conversation, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Video footage of the unexpected exchange between Glanville and Steel was broadcast online by Law & Crime Trials.
Steele argued the alleged meeting involved the improper coercion of a sworn witness, but Glanville skipped over the allegation and repeatedly demanded to be told who spoke to Steele about the meeting in his chambers.
“Mr. Steel, I’m going to ask you again. I need you to tell me how you got this information. This is so sacrosanct, to have a conversation in my chambers parroted to you,” he said.
“If you don’t tell me how you got this information, you and I are going to have problems,” the judge told Steel.
After being held in contempt of court earlier today, Young Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel has been sentenced to serve 20 days in prison (weekends only).pic.twitter.com/2m2KLdai4V
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) June 11, 2024
Steel refused to provide the information and attempted to focus on the actual meeting as being the issue at hand.
“You’re not supposed to have communication with a witness who’s been sworn,” Steele told Glanville.
Steel went on to say he was informed that prosecutors and the judge had pressed the witness, Kenneth Copeland, known by his rap name, Young Thug, to testify by saying he could be held in jail for an extended period of time if he did not.
Thugs lawyer has been sentenced to 10 weekends in jail (20 days).
He asks that (if the appeal doesn’t get him a bond) he is allowed to spend those weekends in jail with Young Thug, and the Judge agrees.
— THUGGERDAILY ひ (@ThuggerDaily) June 10, 2024
“If that’s true, what this is is coercion, witness intimidation,” Steel told Glanville. He argued that he should have been notified of a meeting involving the sworn witness and highlighted that this was grounds for a mistrial.
After a lengthy exchange, Glanville ordered Steel be taken into custody. He told the judge that Young Thug did not wish to proceed in his absence.
“You’re taking away his right to counsel,” Steel said to Glanville.
SEATTLE, WA – SEPTEMBER 01: Young Thug performs at Bumbershoot at Seattle Center on September 1, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Suzi Pratt/WireImage) Getty Images
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 17: Young Thug performs onstage at ‘Samsung Galaxy + Billboard’ during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Waterloo Park on March 17, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW)
Young Thug’s other attorney, Keith Adams, said he could not continue without his co-counsel.
Steel then requested to serve his time alongside his client.
“I’d ask that I can be with Mr. Williams and we work on our case all weekend, for all those weekends, otherwise I can’t prepare,” Steel requested of the judge. (RELATED: DA Investigator Caught Texting Suggestive Messages To Female Witness In Yung Thug Trial)
Young Thug was indicted in May 2022 over allegations that his group, called “YSL” was not really a record label that operated as “Young Stoner Life” but rather, a violent gang from Atlanta called “Young Slime Life,” that was responsible for murders, carjackings, drug dealing and armed robberies, according to Billboard.
