Young Thug's months-long racketeering trial is facing another hurdle just as proceedings looked set to resume with a new judge.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Shukura L. Ingram on Wednesday filed an order to recuse herself from the high-profile racketeering case, shortly after she was assigned to replace Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville. Glanville had presided over the trial since it began in November but was ordered to leave earlier this week after several defense attorneys filed motions asking for her recusal.
In the order, reviewed by The Times, Ingram said a former deputy constable assigned to his courtroom, Akeiba Stanley, for nearly six months had been arrested after being accused of “collusion” with YSL co-defendant Christian Eppinger.
In June 2023, Stanley was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony, hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal, reckless conduct, and violation of oath by a public official. Eppinger was removed from the racketeering trial in June 2023.
“Since this Court’s former appointed deputy may be called to testify in any future proceedings in this case, the Court may be forced to evaluate this deputy’s credibility or decide on issues related to his criminal prosecution,” the order states. “This may undermine public confidence in the fairness of the proceedings.”
Ingram’s motion cites a rule in Georgia’s Code of Judicial Conduct: “Judges shall disqualify themselves in any proceeding in which their impartiality may reasonably be questioned.”
Hours after Ingram filed his order, the Fulton County clerk assigned a third judge to the case: Paige Whitaker, local outlet WSB-TV Atlanta 2 reported Wednesday night.
Whitaker will be the final judge to oversee the on-again, off-again trial, which has been plagued by delays. The trial began in November, a year after Young Thug (whose real name is Jeffrey Williams) and several co-defendants, including Eppinger, were indicted in 2022 for their alleged involvement with the Atlanta crime gang Young Slime Life, or YSL. Atlanta prosecutors accused Young Thug of being a founding member of YSL, who allegedly committed or conspired to commit a long list of crimes including murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, carjacking, larceny and drug trafficking.
Before the juggling between judges, YSL's trial previously faced multiple disruptions, including an online leak of a juror's identity and the stabbing of a defendant in the Fulton County Jail.
