A judge in Utah has set a $100,000 bond for rapper NBA YoungBoy, who faces dozens of charges involving a fraudulent prescription operation he allegedly orchestrated. The 24-year-old rap artist, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, appeared before Judge Spencer D. Walsh in a Cache County, Utah, court for the bond hearing.
Gaulden was arrested on April 16 at his home in Huntsville, where he was on house arrest while awaiting trial on federal weapons charges. He faces 63 felonies and misdemeanors related to the fraudulent prescription operation, including identity fraud, obtaining a prescription under false pretenses, forgery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, and possession of a controlled substance.
Three others linked to the case are accused of traveling to nearby pharmacies to pick up prescriptions for pills that had been filled on bogus orders from people pretending to be real doctors.
The defense informed Walsh that the state agreed to a $100,000 bond in exchange for his waiving a preliminary hearing. Gaulden's arraignment was set for July 1, where he will enter a plea.
Additional charges related to the prescription fraud case were filed against Gaulden in Weber County on April 26, including a second-degree felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and two Class A misdemeanor counts of distributing a controlled substance. He was held without bond in that case.
Authorities stated that Gaulden will be transferred back to federal custody in the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana where he faces a July 15 trial on a possession of a firearm charge in Baton Rouge. The trial date has been postponed to a date yet to be determined as several pending motions in the case play out.
The weapons charge against Gaulden stems from a 2020 music video shoot where Baton Rouge police found pistols and assault rifles hidden in the area, leading to his arrest along with 15 others.
