The lawyer of Young Thug found himself in hot water on Monday when he refused to spill the beans on how he got wind of a supposedly hush-hush chat involving a key witness, the prosecutors, and the judge.
Eventually, Judge Ural Glanville had enough and held attorney Brian Steel in contempt of court, ordering the courtroom deputies to take him into custody. As Steel was being led out, he called for a mistrial and said, “You are removing me against his will, my will, and you’re taking away [Williams’] right to counsel.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. Steel got a brief reprieve and was allowed to return to court for the rest of the day, thanks to the state’s lead prosecutor who vouched for his presence. Judge Glanville, however, gave him a stern deadline: Steel had until about 5 p.m. to reveal his source or the contempt charge would stick. Glanville remarked, “You can purge that contempt by just telling me who it is that told you this information. That’s all I need to know.”
The whole fuss was about a private conversation that Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland was expected to testify about, claiming Young Thug (a.k.a. Jeffrey Williams) knew he was renting a car for a plan that led to the murder of Donovan “Peanut” Thomas, linked to a rival gang. This accusation is a big piece of the state’s racketeering case against the rapper and his alleged gang, YSL.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the judge sentenced Steel to 20 days in Fulton County Jail, with the stipulation that he’d serve his time on weekends starting this Friday. Steel cheekily asked if he could serve his time at Cobb County Jail, where Young Thug is staying, to catch up on their case work. The judge said he’d mull it over.
