YSL attorney released on $5K bond after arrest

Anastasios Manettas was arrested on charges of simple battery on law enforcement officers, possession, obstruction and disruption of court proceedings.
Here's how the RICO Act is being used in the Young Thug trial.
Published: Apr. 24, 2023 at 10:58 AM EDT
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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The attorney who was arrested last week during the massive RICO trial surrounding rapper Young Thug was released late Friday on a $5,000 bond.

Anastasios Manettas has not been charged, but charges could still be pending, his attorney said.

According to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, Manettas was arrested on charges of simple battery on law enforcement officers, possession (pills not in original container), obstruction and disruption of court proceedings.

Manettas represents Miles Farley, who is one of several defendants in the trial. Later Thursday morning, Judge Ural Glanville announced Farley’s trial has been severed from the overall YSL case. That means the number of YSL-related defendants in the case is now 13.

Farley is accused in the death of Shymel Drinks in a feud between YSL and another gang.

Manettas’ arrest came less than 24 hours after a Fulton County courtroom was evacuated after one of the defendants in the trial was removed from a holding cell after he began screaming. According to the sheriff’s department, Rodalius Ryan, aka Lil Rod, was removed from the courtroom due to the suspicion of marijuana, “and did not want to be searched, per safety protocols.”

Jury selection in Jeffery Williams’ - aka Young Thug - trial has already lasted longer than any other in Georgia history.

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A few weeks ago, a potential juror was jailed for filming court proceedings. Back in January, the mother of Deamonte Kendrick - aka Yak Gotti - was arrested and charged with criminal attempt to commit a misdemeanor and issued a $1,500 bondLatasha Kendrick is accused of trying to pass tobacco products to her son.

Also in January, Kahlieff Adams, a rapper who is also on trial with Young Thug was charged with possession of a schedule 2 controlled substance; possession of less than an ounce of marijuana; possession of an alcoholic beverage by an inmate; and two counts of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.

Williams is facing eight criminal counts under a federal law that was originally enacted to fight organized crime.

The federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law was passed and signed into law in 1970 by President Richard Nixon.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, it allows prosecutors to link apparently unrelated crimes with a common objective into a prosecutable pattern of racketeering.