Kevin Liles, co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment, has issued a statement following news that Atlanta rapper Young Thug is set to be released from prison on Thursday (October 31) after pleading guilty.

Liles, who co-founded 300 Entertainment in 2012 and signed Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) to the label in 2014, made his statement late Thursday following the conclusion of Georgia’s longest-running criminal trial.

“Words cannot express the incredible joy and relief I feel upon learning of Jeffery’s freedom,” Liles said. “There will be a time to debate the criminalization of hip-hop lyrics and the use of non-commitment as a weapon against the accused, but at this moment everyone should feel nothing but joy that this great artist and even better man is embracing his children can. Parents, siblings and other loved ones this evening.

“We must always remember that artists are not fictional characters,” he concluded. “They are people first and foremost. God bless Jeffery and his family.”

The 33-year-old racket spent the last two years in custody after being arrested in May 2022 along with 27 others from his label YSL Records as part of a 56-count indictment for violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). became. The trial, which began in November 2023, was based on allegations that YSL committed murders, car thefts, drug trafficking and many other crimes.

After days of closed-door negotiations with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, Thug refused to take a deal that would have resulted in his immediate release, ultimately opting for a non-negotiated guilty plea. Late Thursday, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced Thug to 15 years in prison without time served.

Before his sentencing, Thug pointed to the power and influence he holds in his community and told the court that he takes “full responsibility for my crimes and my allegations.”

“I know what I bring and I know what I am,” he added. “I know the heights I have reached and I know the impact I have on people in the community.”