During the ongoing Young Thug trial in Atlanta, Lil Woody, a former associate with Young Thug and YSL, admitted on the stand that he lied to the police and pinned crimes on Young Thug that he did not commit.
Woody, whose was born and raised in Atlanta under the name Kenneth Copeland, said he tried to throw Thugger under the bus to get the police off his back.
“I have lied. I made things up…to get them off me, I said, ‘Thug did this, Thug did that,'” he said on the stand.
Woody admitted to his role in a 2014 shooting inside a barbershop owned Rich Homie Quan’s father, Corey Lamar. The shooting left Lamar hospitalized. Woody told prosecutors the shooting was intended to “send a message.”
This is already the longest-running criminal trial in Georgia history. Jury selection began in January 2023 and took until November 2023 before the actual trial commenced, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
According to The Neighborhood Watch, which posted footage of Woody’s testimony inside the Fulton County Courthouse, Copeland was supposed to be the prosecutor’s star witness after he reportedly told police about alleged crimes Young Thug plotted and committed in 2015. But in the courtroom on Monday, Aug. 12, he recanted those statement.
“I don’t recall none of that,” Copeland said when asked about 2015. “I just know every time police was after me and trying to get me, they kept bringing [Young Thug’s] name up and I knew they had me with what I had. So, I was like, ‘Yea, yea, yea, yea. Whatever y’all want me to say I will say it.'”
“That’s why they kept coming after me because they felt like they could make a case out of him or whatever they are trying to do,” Copeland continued. “So they knew that, ‘OK, we gon’ get Woody today, he gon’ have something to say about Thug.’ It’s wrong. And y’all wrong because y’all know that I’m full of s—. And y’all keep trying to drag me in here to bring up bulls— that y’all know I done said. Why is y’all doing that? Leave me alone.”
Prosecutors contend that Young Thug violated the RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] Act, commiting crimes including racketeering, conspiracy, criminal street gang activity, and various drug and gun offenses. If he is convicted, Thugger could face anywhere from five to 20 years in prison.
Listen to more testimony below:
