Young Thug Attorney Sentenced to Jail Time Over Contempt Charge as Racketeering Trial Grinds Ahead

Photo Credit: Young Thug for Fulton County Sheriff’s Office

Young Thug’s defense attorney was arrested and sentenced to 10 weekends in jail after angrily confronting the judge, earning a contempt charge.Atlanta defense attorney Brian Steel was held in contempt of court by Fulton County Judge Ural Glanville, who is overseeing rapper Young Thug’s racketeering trial. Steel, who is representing the Grammy-winning rapper, angrily confronted the judge about alleged secret meetings with the prosecution. For this, he was held in contempt of court and sentenced to ten weekends in jail.

Steel refused to reveal to the court his source that tipped him off into the supposed dealings between the judge, the prosecutors, and a key witness (Kevin Copeland). “I’m going to give you five minutes,” said Judge Glanville. “If you don’t tell me who it is, I’m going to put you in contempt.”

“I don’t need five minutes,” Steel snapped back, before motioning for a mistrial, which was denied. Judge Glanville then ordered Steel to be escorted from the courtroom and taken into custody, though he was allowed back into the courtroom around an hour later.Glanville allowed Steel into the courtroom as long as court was in session, but warned him he would be placed back into custody if he did not reveal his source by day’s end. Ultimately, Glanville ordered Steel to be taken back into custody and to serve “20 days consisting of every weekend for the next 10 weekends” in jail.

Although the judge initially ordered Steel to report to the Rice Street jail, he agreed to the attorney’s request to serve his time in the Cobb County Jail, where his client Young Thug is also being housed.Young Thug was arrested in May 2022 over allegations that he was the ringleader of a prominent Atlanta-based gang. His trial began in November 2023, and is already notably the longest-running proceeding in Georgia’s history.

Kevin Copeland, the key witness who Steel alleged was involved in secret meetings with the judge and the prosecutor, spent the last weekend in jail after refusing to testify, despite his immunity deal hinging on his cooperating with the court. The Atlanta Journal Constitution says he is expected to return to the witness stand on Tuesday.