Gunna denied bond a second time in racketeer case
Gunna was denied bond on Thursday for a second time in his RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) indictment case.
The rapper, real name Sergio Giavanni Kitchens, appeared in court virtually on 7 July amid the sweeping 56-count indictment against Young Stoner Life Records (YSL). He was originally arrested in May of this year.
Fellow rapper Young Thug (born Jeffery Williams) and 26 other members of Thug’s collective and record label YSL have also been indicted on the charges, which stems from an alleged May 2013 crime.
11Alive.com reports that Gunna is facing a one-count charge of conspiracy to violate RICO. Middle Tennessee State University describes the Act as an “attempt to combat organised crime”.
During Gunna’s Thursday court proceeding, his judge decided he would stay in jail until his official trial date in January 2023. A previous judge had come to the same conclusion in a separate hearing on 23 May this year.
While the rapper’s attorneys contend that nothing indicates he should be denied bond, prosecutors in the case have argued that collaborator Young Thug and his Young Stoner Life Records associates have made “numerous threats to kill or harm witnesses”, according to The New York Times.
Defense attorneys have denied witness intimidation claims, despite the motion detailing that a family member of one of the case defendants threatened Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat via social media, writing, “#freethug or Imma sh00t u and your wife”.
Gunna recently shared an open letter on his social media accounts from behind bars, saying he was being “falsely accused” and that the picture “being painted of me is ugly and untrue”.
