By Lisa Mugo
Rapper Sergio Kitchens, also known by his stage name, Gunna, is officially a free man after he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to YSL RICO charges. The Grammy nominated rapper released a statement revealing that he did not consider Young Slime Life or Young Stoner Life (YSL) to be a gang and instead thought it is a group of people from Atlanta who come together to make music and perform.
“My focus of YSL was entertainment- rap artists who wrote and performed music that exaggerated and ‘glorified’ urban life in the Black community.”
Gunna
Gunna who took a plea deal verified that he did not cooperate with the prosecutors and is not intending on doing so. The prosecutors believe that YSL is a dangerous gang based in Atlanta that perpetrates crimes.
A total of 28 YSL members including famed rapper Young Thug, were arrested. Gunna was initially sentenced to 5 years in prison with one commuted as he has already spent a substantial amount in prison. The 4-year sentence left has been suspended will be subject to special conditions including 500 hours of community service.
The 29-year-old rapper was initially arrested on charges of murder, carjacking, armed robbery, drug dealing and illegal firearm possession along with other YSL members. His lawyers however revealed that there was absolutely no evidence that tied him to the crimes that he was accused of. “Not a shred of evidence in the thousands of pages of discovery – not one piece of paper,” said Gunna’s lawyer, Steven Sadow.
“The prosecution has been afforded ample time to develop evidence to support its motion to detain Kitchens. It has not succeeded,” he added.
