Young Thug's lawyer Brian Steel wins appeal against prison sentence for contempt of court: reports

A lawyer representing Young Thug in the ongoing RICO case against the rapper has reportedly run into legal trouble of his own.

Attorney Brian Steel was taken into custody on Monday for alleged contempt of court and sentenced to 20 days in jail over 10 weekends, WSB-TV, Fox 5 and The Atlanta-Journal Constitution report.

Steel was arrested by court officials after the attorney refused to tell Judge Ural Glanville how he learned of a private meeting between the judge and prosecutors in the case. “You received information you should not have received,” Glanville told Steel, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

The Georgia Supreme Court granted an emergency bail motion filed by Steel on Wednesday, according to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution and The Washington Post. The appeal means he will stay out of jail on Friday.

“We are very pleased that Brian will be home with his family this Father's Day weekend,” Ashleigh Merchant, an attorney for Steel, told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts have handled this unfortunate situation.”

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for The Steel Law Firm and Young Thug for comment.

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Court footage obtained by Fox 5 and WSB-TV shows Steel removing items of clothing, including his jacket and tie, as he arrested the attorney after Judge Glanville issued an order Monday.

Before leaving the courtroom, Steel told Glanville that Young Thug did not want to continue the trial without his presence. “You are removing me against his will, my will, and you are taking away his right to counsel,” he told the judge.

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Young Thug is facing an organized crime trial in Atlanta after the rapper was accused of co-founding a violent criminal street gang and using his music to promote it. The trial resumed in January after being postponed until December 2023. The YSL rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, was accused of violating Georgia's anti-gang and gang laws, among other charges.

A Fulton County grand jury indicted Young Thug in May 2022. A second indictment in August 2022 charges Young Thug and 27 others with conspiracy to violate Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The indictments contain 65 counts, six of which apply to Young Thug.

Judge in Young Thug trial continues proceedings after Brian Steel's arrest

The argument that reportedly led to Steel's arrest on Monday occurred when the attorney asked Judge Glanville about a conversation between Glanville and prosecutors regarding witness Kenneth Copeland, Fox 5 and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.

Steel said he was told that prosecutor Simone Hylton told Copeland he could remain in custody until all defendants had completed their cases. “If that's true, this is coercion, witness intimidation and one-way communication where we have a constitutional right to be present,” he told the judge, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Steel's revelation led to a tense back and forth between the lawyer and the judge.

“I still want to know how you got that information. Who told you?” Glanville asked, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to which Steel replied, “I want to know why I wasn't there.”

After ordering Steel removed from the case for contempt of court, Glanville remained adamant about continuing the trial, despite protests from Young Thug's other attorney, Keith Adams. “I'm not going to stop anything,” Glanville said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Glanville added that the leak of information at the prosecutors' meeting was “a violation of the sanctity of the judicial office.”

Contributors: Naledi Ushe, Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY staff and news agencies

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Young Thug's lawyer Brian Steel wins appeal against prison sentence after arrest