[2][3] The trial began on November 27, 2023, following the May 2022 indictment that charged 28 individuals associated with YSL under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

[5] Fulton County Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville presided over the case until he was recused in July 2024 after complaints were registered about a secret meeting he held with prosecutors and a key witness.

Judge Shukura L. Ingram replaced him, but she immediately recused herself due to personal connection to one of the courthouse deputies that was arrested for smuggling contraband and having a "inappropriate relationship" with one of the indicted co-defendants.

[6][7] While numerous affiliates were removed from the case through actions such as taking probation and plea deals,[8] Thug and five other individuals remained as defendants in the trial.

[10] Some indicted co-defendants that were still a part of the case did not attend the trial dates due to various reasons, such as insufficient funding for lawyers and unavailability of public defenders.

[28] Two days later, rapper Gunna (real name Sergio Kitchens), who is a part of YSL, turned himself in to authorities after a warrant for his arrest had been issued.

[30] The case was presided over by Fulton County Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville, who denied bond for everybody who was charged and scheduled the trial to begin on January 9, 2023.

[51] On January 3, 2024, YSL co-defendant Trontavious Stephens identified himself, Thug, and Walter Murphy as the founders of the record label, claiming that it was solely music-related and not a criminal street gang.

[52][53] On February 16, YSL defense attorney Nicole Fegan, who represented former co-defendant Tenquarius Mender in the case, was arrested on charges of participating in criminal street gang activity and evidence tampering.

[55][56] On April 4, Steel filed a motion for lead prosecutor Adriane Love to be removed from the trial as he felt that she was essentially acting as an unsworn witness in order to coerce defendants into admitting to wrongdoing, which Glanville denied.

[57][4] On June 10, Steel revealed in the courtroom that he found out that Glanville allegedly had a secret ex-parte meeting with prosecutors, along with a key witness named Lil Woody and his lawyer, Kayla Bumpus, early that morning.

[68][11] The trial then resumed under the direction of Shukura L. Ingram, who recused herself three days later due to "an improper relationship between a defendant and one of her former deputies" that caused a conflict of interest that involved her.

[23] His release and probation conditions include him being banned from the Metro Atlanta area (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau) for 10 years, not being allowed to make gang references in his music, being required to do four annual anti-gang presentations or concerts for Atlanta, and not being allowed to have any contact with known gang members or co-defendants other than Gunna and his older brother, Unfoonk (real name Quantavious Grier).

[73][74] He may return to Atlanta only briefly and under strict conditions: to deliver anti-gun and anti-gang presentations to local youth four times a year or to attend the weddings, funerals, graduations, or medical emergencies of his immediate family members.