Rapper Gunna Pleads Not Guilty to RICO Charges, Judge Denies Bond

Gunna isn’t getting out anytime soon. After pleading not guilty to the RICO charges, a judge denied bond for the Atlanta rapper.

Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, was arrested on May 11 in Atlanta, apart of 27 other people of Young Thug‘s record label “Young Stoner Life.” Prosecutors allege the members arrested are a part of a gang called “Young Slime Life.” The charges come after suspected criminal activity, including carjackings, threats, and murders in Atlanta since 2012.

All members listed are being accused of criminal gang activity. Gunna pleaded not guilty to one charge a part of the RICO act. Still, prosecutors believe he’s violated the act for at least a decade.

FOX 5 Atlanta reports that Gunna was not just an associate but a “documented gang member” who was in a “command position” and “one of the bosses.”

The state also pointed out the rapper’s four previous arrests and cited songs where he and defendant Young Thug are ‘followed in their gang persona by snipers’ with additional references to weapons and violence.’

However, the New York Senate recently passed a bill limiting the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court. Senate Bill S7527 doesn’t entirely ban rap song lyrics as evidence, but the lyrics must prove to be “literal, rather than figurative or fictional. ”

The Fulton County judge denied bond due to a rising fear of witnesses and people linked to the investigation. Young Thug was also denied bond and appeared in court this Monday morning.

The trial date for Gunna has been set for Jan. 9, 2023.