Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
HUNTSVILLE, Weber County — Officers descended on the Utah residence of rapper YoungBoy, also known as NBA YoungBoy, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and YB, on Tuesday to serve a search warrant as part of "an ongoing investigation into criminal conduct," according to the Cache County Sheriff's Office.
The Louisiana rapper, born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, is "a suspect in a large-scale prescription fraud ring," according to a police booking affidavit, which says the FBI has identified him as the leader of the NBA street gang from the Louisiana area.
The affidavit notes the FBI has classified his associates as a gang because of their "structure, affiliation and violent behavior. Kentrell Gaulden's music is heavily influenced by such behavior as he is consistently rapping about shooting and killing people, using drugs and having a strong dislike for law enforcement."
Gaulden, 24, was booked into the Cache County Jail, and on Thursday he was charged in 1st District Court with pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony; 15 counts of identity fraud and 15 counts of forgery, third-degree felonies, and 15 counts of unlawful conduct, a class A misdemeanor.
Investigators from Cache County say they were first alerted to fraudulent prescriptions last September, when someone called in a order to a Hyrum pharmacy using the credentials of a Provo doctor, who did not have a patient matching the name.
Pharmacists told police the voice "sounded as though they were a much younger person disguising their voice to sound much older," the affidavit alleges.
Over the next months, police say 18 successfully filled prescriptions and at least two confirmed attempts were documented throughout Cache County and across Utah, using repeated names that were "different combinations of first and last names with different birthdays," impersonating elderly patients, ordering the antibiotic doxycycline, and promethazine with codeine — "a heavily abused" controlled substance. The cough syrup is often combined with alcohol or soda to make "purple drank" or "lean."
In January, officers with the Cache-Rich Drug Task Force arrested two females attempting to pick up codeine prescriptions in Smithfield who were driving a Chevy Tahoe registered to Gaulden, which was impounded. Police spoke to Gaulden, according to the affidavit, and he claimed the women "were family."
During that phone conversation, investigators say Gaulden muted himself multiple times, but a lifelong friend of Gaulden, who lived with him in Baton Rouge, could be heard telling the rapper, "Ask him about um ... the prescription that they picked up," the affidavit states, with the officer noting: "It is suspected that they intended to mute me at that time as well."
During the investigation, police say they received a call from "Gwendolyn Cox," one of the alleged aliases used to order prescriptions. The caller mixed up the names of aliases, giving police the last name "White," and could not give an age when asked, according to police. The affidavit said "it was very clear that a fake voice was being used," and "sounded as though she was a much younger male from the southern states."
On Tuesday, a search warrant was executed at Gaulden's multimillion-dollar mansion in the unincorporated area of Weber County, northeast of Huntsville, where police say they found doxycycline prescribed to Caroline White, codeine prescribed to Gaulden with a false date of birth, and unlabeled codeine. They also say a gun was found, which Gaulden said belonged to his wife.
Gaulden has been on house arrest since October 2021, awaiting trial for a federal firearms charge. Gaulden and 15 others were arrested in 2020 after Baton Rouge police received a tip that a group was filming a music video with guns, according to court documents.
The Cache County Sheriff's Office said many agencies were involved in executing the warrant at his Weber County residence, including Homeland Security, the FBI, the Secret Service and Layton police SWAT, among others.
Gaulden's house arrest conditions were altered in December, after he claimed his mental health was deteriorating and his professional career was facing significant difficulty. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick in Louisiana agreed to make an exemption to the 24-hour lockdown for medical and mental health appointments but denied him approval to go to recording studios, citing concerns for Gaulden's safety "in light of the history of violence aimed at Gaulden and those around him."
Last month, a motion was filed asking the judge to again reconsider Gaulden's house arrest, with federal prosecutors alleging he violated the controlled substance use condition of his arrest. They claimed Gaulden told his probation officer "he has no intentions to discontinue using the substance that resulted in the violation." The judge denied this motion.
Gaulden's trial for the federal charge is scheduled to begin July 15. As of Friday morning, he does not have a court date scheduled in Utah.
Correction: A previous version incorrectly said Gaulden was arrested at his Millcreek home. The arrest took place at his Weber County property.
