Written by John Mendelsohn
Videos by American Songwriter
Popular rapper Young Thug is currently undergoing trial for gang and racketeering charges in Atlanta along with 13 other defendants, and a strange new circumstance plagues the case. Young Thug’s attorney, Anastassios Manettas, has been arrested for illegally possessing prescription drugs. The attorney was taken away by officers at a security checkpoint on Thursday.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat spoke about the attorney’s arrest, saying, “We have increased the security protocol. We will continue this moving forward. Anything coming into this courtroom will be checked.”
Arrest of Young Thug’s Attorney During Trial
Manettas has also been charged with assaulting an officer after he tried to throw his phone to another attorney, Chadha Jimenez, to avoid a search of the device. The phone ended up hitting a deputy captain. Jimenez expressed anger about his colleague’s arrest, saying, “They’re not motherf***ing doctors. They didn’t have a warrant. They don’t have a right to know about his motherf***ing conditions.”
Young Thug was arrested back in 2022 for allegedly organizing the drive-by shooting of Donovan “Peanut” Thomas in 2015. The death was the result of a blood feud between the Young Slime Life street gang and its rivals, YFN.
[Related: Gunna Previews New Music Amid Drama with YSL Label]
Young Thug, who was born Jeffery Lamar Williams, won a Grammy for Song of the Year in 2019 with Childish Gambino for the song “This is America.” The rapper‘s 2019 debut album, So Much Fun, was No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 when it was first released.
The Young Thug trial has certainly been a heated one. Rodalius “Lil’ Rod” Ryan, who is a convicted murderer, was pulled out of the courtroom this past Wednesday (April 19). Ryan is being charged with racketeering for the incident involving Young Thug. Several attorneys are experiencing a rift with the court over low wages. If Young Thug is convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW
