One of five defendants tried together Young Thug Georgia agreed to a plea deal Tuesday in the Grammy-winning rapper’s racketeering conspiracy trial that could turn the tide in what has become the longest trial in state history.

Quamarvation Nichols, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO law. As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped six more charges, including a murder charge and multiple weapons charges. Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker immediately sentenced Nichols to a 20-year plea deal; In this agreement, he was sentenced to seven years in custody and 13 years of supervised release. He was facing a possible life sentence.

“Do you all agree that the RICO count is factual?” Judge Whitaker asked the question as he stood at the podium with Bruce Harvey, one of Nichols’ defense attorneys, and pleaded guilty. The lawyer said Nichols admitted to two “drug incidents” in 2017 and 2018, but that’s about it.

“We categorically deny and oppose Mr. Nichols’ use of violence,” Harvey said. “We do not accept the real underlying basis. “We believe that these two predicate actions taken by Mr. Nichols without question are sufficient to satisfy the elements of the crime to which he pleaded guilty, namely a RICO conspiracy.” He said there were “no conditions” to the agreement, signaling that Nichols did not have to testify against the remaining co-defendants.

Nichols was accused of murdering Shymel Drinks, an alleged partner of rival Atlanta rapper YFN Lucci, in 2022. Another defendant, Shannon Stillwell, who is still on trial along with Young Thug and three others, was also charged with Drinks’ murder.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Nichols’ plea would affect mid-trial plea negotiations for the other five defendants. prosecutors We started meeting one-on-one with the defense teams last week. While Judge Whitaker considers Nichols’ defense team’s pending request for a mistrial. This latest mistrial motion comes after prosecutors on Wednesday allowed a witness to testify that should have been excluded on the grounds that it could be damaging.

In the incident that took place on Wednesday, rapper Wunnie “SlimeLife Shawty” Lee, the former defendant in the case and who had previously entered into a plea agreement, read aloud to the jury part of an Instagram post that needed to be corrected. The redaction was a tag that said “Free Qua”. As soon as Lee read the hashtag, there was an audible reaction in the courtroom. Live broadcast provided daily by Law and Crime.

Nichols’ defense won the right to exclude “Free Qua” because it argued it would give jurors the impression that their client was in custody for a different, previously alleged crime. Prosecutors said it was unclear to whom the “Qua” in the hashtag referred.

“We’re not going to be able to ring this bell,” said Nicole Westmoreland, an attorney on Nichols’ team, after the mishap. Judge Whitaker, He scolded prosecutors last month Regarding the alleged mistreatment of a different witness, he said he viewed Wednesday’s incident as “sloppy” but ultimately a “mistake.” If he were to order a mistrial, he said, it would be “without prejudice,” meaning prosecutors could go back and retry each defendant. Another option, he said, is for prosecutors to prepare a jury instruction that would make clear that the hashtag is not related to one of the defendants. Prosecutors said they weren’t sure.

“What I’m trying to do is correct your sloppiness so that everybody doesn’t waste 10, 12 months of their life on this trial,” Judge Whitaker responded. After sentencing Nichols on Tuesday, Judge Whitaker adjourned the hearing for the day without further argument. The abrupt ending appeared to return the case to the state of limbo that began last week.

Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, has pleaded not guilty to eight charges filed against him as part of the state’s 65-count RICO indictment. Prosecutors allege he founded and ran a violent street gang called Young Slime Life. Williams says YSL is a record label and that he does not even know some of the 28 defendants named in the indictment.

Williams has been in jail since May 2022 and successive judges have refused to grant him bail. Nine of the other 27 people charged in the original RICO indictment took plea deals before Nichols, and the other 12 will be tried separately. Prosecutors dropped the case against a defendant convicted of murder in an unrelated case.

Other defendants currently on trial alongside Williams include Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, Marquavius ​​Huey, Rodalius “Lil Rod” Ryan and Shannon Stillwell.