Donald Trump has pardoned NBA YoungBoy, born Kentrell Gaulden, among a slew of other pardons on Wednesday.
“I did not do the pardon application, but can confirm he was pardoned,” Gaulden’s lawyer, Drew Findling tells Rolling Stone.
“I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” Gaulden wrote in a statement posted to Instagram stories on Wednesday. “This moment means a lot. It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this.”
In December 2024, the rap star pleaded guilty to one count linked to his 2020 gun possession arrest in Louisiana and a separate count tied to a more recent gun charge filed in Utah. Gaulden was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison with credit for time served dating back to at least May 2024, when he was taken into custody following a raid on his Utah residence.
On April 16, 2024, the 24-year-old Gaulden was arrested in what prosecutors called a fraudulent prescription drug ring while he was on house arrest in Huntsville, Utah for federal weapon charges. Ten days later, additional charges related to the prescription fraud case were filed against him, 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.
Gaulden admitted in a plea agreement that he was a felon in possession of a Masterpiece Arms 9mm gun and a .45 caliber Glock Model 21 pistol when he was arrested filming a music video outside his grandfather’s house in Baton Rouge on Sept. 28, 2020. The artist also said that he “knowingly possessed” the Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol found in his Utah home where he was serving house arrest related to the pending Louisiana case.
Last month, local news station KUTV reported that Gaulden returned to Utah after serving time in federal prison.
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