Former Young Thug collaborator arrested during YSL RICO trial

The YSL RICO case against Young Thug continues to make headlines. Thugger’s former partner Lil Woody (real name Kenneth Copeland) was arrested for contempt of court after a heated court hearing, despite previously being granted immunity.

On Friday (June 7), Woody was taken into custody after invoking his Fifth Amendment rights and refusing to testify against Young Thug. Although part of his testimony from his 2021 arrest, which was provided to authorities, was leaked by the media, Copeland refused to cooperate with prosecutors when he took the witness stand, leading to a tense exchange.

“I’m an adult. I’m an adult,” Copeland replied when asked his age. “I’m taking Part Five of the Penal Code.” Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville then ordered Copeland held in custody until June 10 on a willful contempt of court charge because prosecutors had already granted immunity.

“I just want to make sure you understand this,” Glanville said. “If you don’t testify, I have several remedies as the judge in this case. One of them is that I can find you in contempt of court and put you in jail, because the only way to get out of that contempt is to simply testify.”

Copeland was originally arrested in Fulton County in October 2021 after he was caught with a loaded gun during a traffic stop. At the time, Copeland reportedly revealed incriminating details about crimes committed by YSL and promised to get a confession from Young Thug.

Brad Steel, Young Thug’s attorney, attempted to file a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that it was known that the witness would invoke the Fifth Amendment, but Glanville denied the motion.

Accordingly a fan page on Twitter (X), Copeland made several social media posts following the incident, in which he reportedly confirmed his plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment once he takes the witness stand.

“I’m fine stop calling me I’m not crying at all f*** her,” Copeland wrote in an Instagram story post. “This is my last prison sentence I love you all and I have to take this journey with my head held high nobody forced me to do this and I’m going to be fine God didn’t bring me this far for nothing it is what it is I’m going to be fine.”

Young Thug has been in prison since his arrest in May 2022 after being named among more than two dozen defendants in the RICO case. YSL artist Gunna pleaded guilty to a single count of organized crime in December 2022.

Watch video of the hearing, including the Copeland incident, below.