The high-profile Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case against the Young Slime Life (YSL) gang, which includes superstar rapper Young Thug, continues to make headlines for various strange events.
In April, Angela D’Williams, a public defender for Rodalius Ryan, one of the remaining nine defendants, employed controversial tactics to receive higher compensation.
D’Williams, Eric Johnson, Justin Hill, and Suri Chadha Jimenez filed a motion to withdraw from the case, citing an “egregiously low” salary of $15,000 for a case predicted to last a year. D’Williams humorously suggested she could earn more by starting an OnlyFans page.
This claim stirred a debate, shedding light on public defenders’ financial struggles. D’Williams, in her plea, insisted, “I can’t take any new cases. I can’t close any cases. I need something to survive off of.”
The GPDC fired back in April, accusing D’Williams of exploiting her position unethically.
They pointed to a text message D’Williams sent to a group of 19 people, in which she admitted to using her withdrawal motion as leverage to secure higher pay.
The text, which fell into the hands of GPDC official Natalie Glaser, read:
“Just in case I didn’t tell you, I filed my motion to withdraw as a way to force GPDC to pay me more money. Please do not help the judge grant my motion. The goal is to have the judge deny my motion, and perhaps have the director come in and testify she’s not paying me more. If the press asks, please do not say you hope the judge grants my motion. I just wanted to bring attention to the issue of GPDC being shady.”
Glaser, the Chief Legal Officer for the Georgia Public Defender Council, accused D’Williams of “attempting to extort payment and using this subpoena as a threat to embarrass the Director and the Agency in the press.”
Today (March 15), the story took another unexpected turn when D’Williams requested the court to withdraw her initial motion. The GPDC caved in and introduced a new policy addressing the issue of compensation for public defenders in prolonged trials.
According to reports, The GPDC has upped the lawyers’ pay with a cap of $55,000 for the year. This development led D’Williams to rescind her previous motion, stating it was now moot.
This legal turmoil adds another bizarre layer to the ongoing YSL RICO case – specifically surrounding the lawyers.
Suri Chadha Jimenez was almost thrown in jail for being late to the trial. He had two options – write a term paper for Judge Ural Glanville, or buy the other attorneys lunch.
Jimenez settled his issue by purchasing the lawyers Lemon Pepper chicken wings from the famed Atlanta strip club Magic City.
Another lawyer, Anastasios Manettas, was arrested in court after he was found with unlabeled prescription pills. He was charged with four misdemeanors and a felony. Once at the Fulton County Jail, Manettas was forced to strip naked, squat down, and cough.
As if that were not enough, attorney Eric Johnson was looking at 20 days behind bars for leaving court early. He was forced to write a paper to Judge Glanville titled “the importance of professionalism in the legal field.”
Young Thug and eight others, including D’Williams’ client Rodalius Ryan, still face serious charges under the RICO Act, a federal law designed to combat organized crime across state lines.
Young Thug, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, and his associates are alleged to have conducted a criminal enterprise, including murder, attempted murder, carjackings, drug trafficking, witness intimidation, and other charges.