Cortlen "YNW Bortlen" Henry, the Florida rapper charged along with YNW Melly with killing two of his crew members back in 2018, has taken a plea deal.
On Tuesday (September 9), Bortlen was one day away from jury selection beginning in his trial, where he was facing two counts of murder in the first degree with a firearm and two counts of accessory after the fact for the murders of Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas, Jr. and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. He was also facing a number of charges in a related witness tampering case from 2023.
Bortlen pleaded no contest to the accessory after the fact charges and two of the charges in the witness tampering case. In return, prosecutors dropped the first degree murder charges, which would have landed him life in prison if convicted, as well as the remainder of the witness tampering charges.
In return, Bortlen will get 10 years in prison, followed by six years of probation. As part of the plea deal, he has also agreed to provide information to prosecutors (called a "proffer") at a later date. Nothing Bortlen says at the proffer will change the terms of his sentence in any way, the judge made clear.
Bortlen and Melly were arrested in Feb. 2019. They were both charged with first degree murder, accused of killing their crew mates and then staging the scene to make it look like a drive-by shooting. Melly faces a second trial on the charges, scheduled to begin early next year, after an initial case ended in a mistrial.
You can see Bortlen's plea beginning at about the 50-minute mark of the video below.
A plea of "no contest" is not the same as pleading guilty, though it has the same practical effect. It means that "the defendant has decided not to contest the state's charges against them."
The plea deal first came to public notice late last week.
Attorney John M. Phillips, who is representing Thomas' family in a civil suit against Bortlen, Melly, and others, responded to the verdict on social media.
"As predicted, YNW Bortlen took the plea deal. He also agreed to a proffer- which means he’s talking," he wrote. "We’ve already requested his deposition in the civil case."
Phillips spoke to Complex after the plea deal was announced.
"I found out this morning from my clients," he said, adding that the Thomas family "liked" the deal.
"At the end of the day, Mr. Henry knows what happened. He was in the car, but he wasn't the shooter. And so finally, after all these years, for him to plea no contest, even though he was adjudicated guilty, and accept responsibility for this, in part, was favorable."
Phillips went on to say that many witnesses in his civil case have taken the Fifth Amendment when asked about the murders. But for Henry, this would likely no longer be an option.
"He shouldn't be able to take the Fifth Amendment in the civil case, so I've already requested his deposition," he continued.
The attorney was skeptical about the potential usefulness to him of Bortlen's proffer.
"Even though he's agreed in writing to do a proffer and cooperate, it always is a little concerning when the sentencing's done. There's no real leverage. The state can't go back and say, 'He's not cooperating. We want additional years put on.' It's a problem."
Theoretically, Phillips said, Bortlen could now be called as a witness in Melly's upcoming trial.
"I expect that to be the case," Phillips said. "If they subpeona him, he can no longer take the Fifth Amendment on these issues. A judge can compel him to testify now, because double jeopardy's attached.
"Just ask, 'Did Mr. Demons [Melly] ever leave that car? Was he sitting behind you at the time of the shootings?' A jury's going to watch him squirm, and I think he's going to say, 'Yes, Mr. Demons was there.' And that's the missing piece."
For more about Melly, Bortlen, and the case, listen to Complex's podcast Infamous: The Story of YNW Melly, hosted by Ace Hood.