YFN Lucci pleads guilty to gang-related charge, prosecution drops 12 counts in plea deal

ATLANTA (AP) — Rapper YFN Lucci pleaded guilty Tuesday to a gang-related charge after reaching a deal with prosecutors nearly three years after he was indicted on murder, gang and racketeering charges in Atlanta.

The rapper, whose given name is Rayshawn Bennett, was one of a dozen people charged in a wide-ranging indictment targeting alleged members of the Bloods gang in April 2021. He was charged with murder in January of that year after police said he was the driver in a gang-related drive-by shooting that killed a man.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped 12 of 13 counts against Bennett and he pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, his lawyers said.

“After three years of pretrial litigation, more than two weeks of jury selection and three years of incarceration waiting for his jury trial, today, the prosecution finally relented and dismissed the murder and RICO charges against Rayshawn Bennett,” defense attorneys Drew Findling, Gabe Banks and Marissa Goldberg said in an emailed statement. “As he has maintained for three years now, Mr. Bennett will NOT cooperate in any other case.”

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The plea deal will allow the rapper to be eligible for parole as soon as four months from now, and prosecutors agreed that he should be released early on parole, which “will allow him to get back to his children, family and career,” his lawyers said.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office did not immediately have a comment about the plea deal.

Among Bennett’s biggest hits is the 2016 song “Key to the Streets,” featuring the Atlanta rap group Migos.