Young Thug’s brother Unfoonk sentenced to prison in connection with YSL case
The brother of Atlanta rapper Young Thug, arrested last month on gun charges, has been sentenced to 9½ years in prison, Atlanta’s WSB-TV and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday.
Quantavious Grier, who raps under the name Unfoonk, was arrested May 4 in Atlanta on suspicion of crimes including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to WSB-TV, investigators determined that Grier violated the terms of his probation as part of a plea deal he struck last year.
Grier, 34, pleaded guilty in December to theft and to violating Georgia’s RICO act. He was among 28 people — including Young Thug — arrested on charges of participating in gang activity and violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, stands accused of co-founding Young Slime Life (YSL), a local gang established in 2012 that claims affiliation with the national Bloods gang.
Prosecutors allege that Young Thug’s violent boasts in song help prove his participation in criminal activity. His attorney calls the charges ‘baseless.’
The terms of Grier’s 10-year probation prohibited the “Running Out of Patience” artist from contacting other defendants in the case (including his brother), required him to perform 750 hours of community service, placed him under a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and prevented him from possessing a gun, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Now he will serve the remainder of his probation sentence in prison.
In early May, an Atlanta police officer discovered a loaded 9 mm Glock handgun inside Grier’s Mercedes after approaching him for an alleged window tint violation, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The report noted that Grier informed the police that the weapon was registered without mentioning the terms of his probation.
“All you had to do was complete your probation and do what you were supposed to do,” Fulton County judge Ural Glanville told Grier on Monday, according to the Journal-Constitution.
“Instead, you were out riding around with a gun in your car.”
Rapper Young Thug, who is accused of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO Act and participation in a criminal street gang, is facing six new felony charges.
Grier’s attorney, Nicole Moorman, asked Glanville to sentence the “My Struggle” musician to two years in prison, arguing that the YSL case marked her client’s first felony conviction.
When prosecutors tried to paint the BP gas station where Grier was arrested as a “YSL stronghold,” Moorman countered, “This is Mr. Grier’s community. This is all he knows.”
“He’s never had anybody leading him, he’s never had anybody guiding him,” Moorman told the judge, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Jury selection for the YSL trial began in January.
Times news researcher Jennifer Arcand contributed to this report.
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