An attorney who’s serving as a public defender in the YSL trial has received a pay raise. Last month, Angela D’Williams took aim at the Georgia Public Defender Council, the agency that hired her as an attorney.
The agency was reportedly paying D’Wiliams and other court appointed lawyers $15,000 for the entire case.
“This case is slated to last for about a year, and if you were to do the math, it would be six dollars an hour,” D’Wiliams said, according to WSB. “I can’t take any new cases. I can’t close any cases. I need something to survive off of.”
D’Williams continued by suggesting she would start an OnlyFans page to supplement her income. “We were under the impression that GPDC was advocating for us, and once they put those walls up,” she said. “I’m thinking I need to start an OnlyFans.”
Another YSL attorney said that they would make more money working as a fast food cashier. “To be honest, I could make more money working at Chick-fil-A as a cashier,” Justin Hill said when discussing the low pay. “For at least a year’s worth of full-time work, that’s essentially less than minimum wage.”
Currently, jury selection has taken five months and the actually trial could last for about nine months.
The low wages shed light on the issues faced by public defenders and low-income defendants who seek a fair trial. “If you are poor and you are charged with RICO, you are probably going to be sitting in jail without your Sixth Amendment right to an attorney because people will probably not take (the case),” Williams said. “The government is just saying that if you are appointed, this is basically going to be pro bono.”
The GPDC has since agreed to increase their pay from a measly $15K salary to $55K.
Although several defendants in the YSL trial needed court-appointed defense attorneys, chart-topping rapper Young Thug will be paying for his own defense which could reportedly cost him millions. There were initially 28 defendants and 14 took plea deals. As a result of the pleas deals, any of the co-defendants named in the original indictment could be called to testify during trial.
Incarcerated since May 2022, Young Thug was arrested along with fellow rapper Gunna and other members of YSL (Young Slime Life). They were charged with the RICO Act by Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis.