Who is Shukura Ingram? New judge in Fani Willis RICO case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‘s sweeping RICO case against rapper Young Thug and 27 other alleged Young Slime Life gang members has been reassigned to a new judge.

Judge Shukura Ingram will oversee the YSL case now that Judge Ural Glanville has been recused from the case after weeks of contention between the judge and defense attorneys representing the six defendants who are standing trial. Willis indicted the alleged YSL gang members in 2022 and at 18 months and counting, the YSL trial is the longest in Georgia’s history.

Glanville was removed from the case by Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause on Monday, weeks after he first came under scrutiny for holding a secret meeting with prosecutors and a state witness.

Brian Steel, the attorney representing Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, revealed the meeting last month while accusing prosecutors of witness tampering. Glanville grew infuriated as Steel refused to disclose how he was made aware of what was said during the meeting and ordered Steel to spend 20 days in jail after holding him in criminal contempt. The jail sentence was stayed days later after the Georgia Court of Appeals intervened.

Attorneys for Williams and co-defendant Deamonte Kendrick filed a motion for Glanville’s recusal in the aftermath of the explosive courtroom scene.

In her Monday decision, Krause said: “This court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, but the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case.”

Glanville paused the proceedings this month in a surprise decision, saying that they would be halted until a decision about his recusal had been reached. He also released an unredacted transcript of the ex parte meeting in his chambers.

Ingram, who will take over for Glanville, assumed office in August 2018. Her term ends in December, but she won reelection in May. Before becoming a Superior Court judge, she served as a magistrate court judge from 2015 to 2018. She has also served as an assistant district attorney for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and as an assistant solicitor for Atlanta’s City Court.

Ingram attended Clark Atlanta University and received her Juris Doctor from Georgia State University.

Former Judicial Qualifications Commission Director Chuck Boring told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Ingram will decide whether the YSL case will continue, and if so, whether to pick up where Glanville left off.