1 month ago
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis just won reelection, in Atlanta but she recently spoke with local Channel 2 Action News Monday before winning back her place as the head prosecutor. The topic, last week’s seeming end to the gang racketeering case involving rapper Young Thug.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne asked some important questions and Willis made her stance known.
“Was it worth all the trouble?” Winne asked Willis about the extensive effort and resources put into the case.
“It’s always worth the trouble. The reality is, as you know, I have aggressively prosecuted gang violence, and there is no one above or below the law,” Willis confidently responded.
Interestingly Willis shared that, she did not negotiate a plea deal for Young Thug. Get this, she also chose not to publicly share her personal views on the sentence delivered by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whittaker.
“Sentencing was in the hands of Judge Whittaker,” Willis stated. Told ya’ll it was interesting.
ICYMI, Thug entered a non-negotiated plea last Thursday, pleading guilty to nearly all charges in the YSL case, with the exception of two counts to which he entered a plea of nolo contendere, or no contest—a plea similar to a guilty plea but with different implications for civil cases.
“You poured a lot of resources, took a lot of flack on this case,” Winne commented.
Here’s how Willis replied:
“You shouldn’t be the district attorney if you’re not willing to take flack. The reality is the world has been caught up with one defendant. But we indicted 28 defendants. Fourteen of those defendants are now disposed of cases. We have 14 more defendants to go, and so we are going to continue to pursue justice in that case.”
What’s more even though Young Thug was released from the Fulton County Jail shortly after his plea in a car driven by his attorney, Willis noted that he had already served substantial time behind bars throughout the trial and pretrial proceedings.
“He’s been in jail three years, so that is not a walk in the park,” she remarked.
Makes sense right?
Willis also dove into the accountability built into Young Thug’s complex sentence: five years commuted to time served, followed by 15 years of probation, with a “backloaded” 20-year prison term, also commutable to time served if he completes the probation without issues. This probation is strict, loaded with numerous special conditions.
“Hope springs eternal that he will do well because if not, he’s going to land himself in prison for another 20 years,” she added.
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