Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, avoided jail time after being arrested for contempt of court during the YSL RICO trial. Following his confrontation with Judge Ural Glanville over a private conversation, Steel was initially sentenced to 10 weekends in jail. However, he has now been granted bond pending his appeal, allowing him to skip reporting to jail this Friday.
In a statement, Steel’s attorney expressed relief: “We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father’s Day this weekend. We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation.”
The conflict between Steel and Judge Glanville stemmed from Steel’s discovery of a private meeting between the judge, prosecutors, and a witness. Refusing to disclose the source of his information, Steel was arrested during dramatic scenes in the courtroom, captured on livestream.
Judge Glanville insisted Steel could avoid contempt charges, and be granted bond, by revealing his source, to which Steel cited his duty of confidentiality and refused to comply. He expressed a desire to spend his time in jail with his client, Young Thug, to continue preparing their defense against the RICO charges.
In another courtroom twist, witness Kenneth Copeland, central to Steel’s conflict with Glanville, refused to testify despite having secured immunity. He fired his attorney while on the stand, saying, “I don’t want her,” and repeatedly invoked the fifth amendment, even to basic questions like his age. The judge held Copeland in contempt for failing to comply, considering that the prosecution had offered him immunity in exchange for his testimony against Young Thug.