Young Thug’s lawyer arrested during rapper’s trial, ordered to jail

US News

By Olivia Land

The Atlanta defense attorney for Grammy Award-winning rapper Young Thug was arrested in court Monday and ordered to serve 10 weekends in jail after angrily confronting the judge about alleged secret meetings with the prosecution.

Lawyer Brian Steel was held in contempt of court by Fulton County Judge Ural Glanville, who is overseeing the “Trance” rapper’s racketeering trial, when he refused to reveal his source that clued him into the supposed under-the-table talks between the judge, the prosecutors, and a key witness, 11ALIVE reported.

“I’m going to give you five minutes. If you don’t tell me who it is, I’m going to put you in contempt,” Glanville insisted during the heated exchange.

“I don’t need five minutes,” Steel retorted. He then motioned for a mistrial, which was denied.

Judge Glanville then ordered the attorney to be escorted from the courtroom and taken into custody.

Steel removed his jacket and tie as he was led away by officials, while the high-profile client stared ahead with his arms crossed, the video from 11ALIVE showed.

He was allowed back into the courtroom about an hour later, the outlet explained. 

Glanville allowed Steel to be present while the court was in session but warned him he would be taken back into custody if he did not reveal that source by the end of the day.

On Monday evening, Glanville ordered Steel to be taken back into custody and ordered him to serve “20 days consisting of every weekend for the next 10 weekends” in jail.

The judge initially ordered Steel to report to the Rice Street jail, but agreed to Steel’s request to serve his time in the Cobb County Jail, where Young Thug is also housed, the Atlanta Journal Constitution said. 

Brian Steel’s law firm did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment on the order.

Young Thug – whose legal name Jeffrey Williams – was arrested in May 2022 on allegations that he was the ringleader of a Georgia gang.

His trial started in November 2023, and is already considered the longest-running proceeding in state history.

The witness that Steel alleged had met secretly with the judge and prosecutor was Kevin Copeland, who spent the last weekend in jail after refusing to testify – despite there being an immunity deal that hinged on his cooperation, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

He is expected to return to the witness stand on Tuesday, the outlet said.