A Young Bandit Reflects on Guilt and Prison Life: “I Think I’m Too Big for This”

The Bandit’s Legal Struggles

The young bandit spoke about his protracted legal problems and imprisonment over the past three years, saying that he thinks that he was “too big for prison”.

Accusations and Plea Deal

The rapper, who received a Grammy and is the founder of the young Stonener label (YSL), was accused by Georgian prosecutors along with dozens of others in May 2022 under the Law on missile and corrupt organizations (RICO). The prosecutors claimed that YSL was not only a label but also acted as a front for a criminal gang involved in murder and drug trafficking.

The trial became the longest in the history of the state of Georgia, and the young bandit—whose real name is Jeffrey Williams—ultimately pleaded guilty to six charges related to gang-related activities in November 2024, having spent more than two years in prison without bail. He was released this month as part of a contractual sentence that had already been served.

“I take full responsibility for my crimes and for my accusations,” Yang Tug said in court before his release. “To everyone connected to this situation, I want to apologize.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4ae8of2znm

Life After Jail

Now, in an interview with GQ, the young bandit claimed that he was an “innocent man”, explaining that he pleaded guilty to specific charges to avoid a harsher sentence.

“Just begging that you know what you did not do, it’s crazy,” he said. “But you have a chance to continue to fight. (You can) worry about the fate of the jury, or you (can) just go forward and go home. It’s like, ‘Shit, go home.’”

Reflecting on his time spent in prison, he stated, “It was real. I do not want to cope with this again, but it was definitely real.”

The trial drew significant public attention, partly due to its extraordinary length, and Tug noted that being part of such a high-profile case made him “feel that I was one of the largest stars.”

“The judge said, ‘Hey, you must understand who you are,’” he continued. “My lawyer, Brian Style, always told me every day, like, ‘BROW, you will find out, you will find out.’ And then I just sit in the cell every night alone, feeling like ‘I’m big.’”

Speaking about how his faith became essential to him during this period, he added, “I think that I am too big for prison, but I think that I am not too big for God. God could put the largest person there. I feel that I am higher than a prison, but somehow he could just crush me there. I think it was like God.”

The young bandit is now focusing on music, making a guest appearance on the new Playboi Carti album “Music” in March, and releasing a new track titled “Money on Money” earlier this week, which you can listen to above. He plans to release his new album “Uy Scuti,” a follow-up to “Business Is Business is Business,” although no confirmed release date has been announced yet.