Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty Thursday in Atlanta to gang, drug and weapons charges.

The Grammy-winning artist, 33, whose given name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty without reaching a deal with prosecutors after negotiations between the two sides failed, said lead prosecutor Adriane Love. That leaves sentencing entirely in the hands of Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.

Young Thug pleaded guilty to one gang charge, three drug charges and two weapons charges. He also pleaded no contest to another gang charge and a racketeering conspiracy charge, meaning he decided not to contest those charges but can be punished for them as if he had pleaded guilty.

The judge heard from Love and defense attorney Brian Steel before making a sentencing decision.

Love described to the judge the evidence he would have presented to prove Young Thug’s guilt, including some of his rap lyrics. He asked the judge to sentence him to 45 years, 25 years in prison and the remaining 20 years of probation.

The rapper’s lead attorney, Brian Steel, said they “vehemently disagree” with many of the statements Love made and said it was “offensive” that the state was using Young Thug’s lyrics against him.

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Steel said the evidence against his client is weak and accused prosecutors of distorting and concealing evidence, saying Young Thug was “falsely accused.” Steel said he told his client he thought they were winning the trial and that they should reach a jury verdict.

“But he told me: ‘I can’t wait another three months if there is any possibility of returning home because I have children who are suffering. I have things to do,’” Steel said.

A wildly successful rapper, Young Thug founded his own record label, Young Stoner Life or YSL. Prosecutors have said he also co-founded a violent criminal street gang and that YSL stands for Young Slime Life.

He was charged two years ago in a sprawling indictment that accused him and more than two dozen others of conspiring to violate Georgia’s racketeering law. He was also charged with gang, drug and weapons offenses.

Young Thug’s statement comes nearly a year after prosecutors began presenting evidence in a trial plagued by problems. Jury selection at the Atlanta courthouse began in January 2023 and lasted nearly 10 months. The trial of six defendants began with opening statements last November, and prosecutors have since called dozens of witnesses.

Three of his co-defendants had already pleaded guilty this week after reaching deals with prosecutors. The statements still leave the fate of two other co-accused undecided.

Nine people charged in the indictment accepted plea deals before the trial began. Twelve others are being tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against a defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.