Utah police accuse YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) of running a “large-scale prescription fraud ring” to buy codeine from local pharmacies, according to new legal filings that shed light on his arrest earlier this year the week.
In an affidavit disclosed in court documents on Thursday (April 18) and obtained by Advertising signthe Cache County Sheriff's Office said it had executed a search warrant Monday at YoungBoy's home — where he has lived under house arrest for more than two years while awaiting trial on federal gun charges.
According to the records, the raid followed a months-long investigation into alleged fraudulent purchases of prescription drugs at several Utah pharmacies by “associates” of YoungBoy (real name Kentrell DeSean Gaulden). The investigation reportedly turned up prescription drugs bearing the names used in some of the bogus purchases, as well as a gun.
“Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, aka NBA YoungBoy, has become the target of an investigation by the Cache County Sheriff's Office after being identified as a suspect in a large-scale prescription fraud ring,” reads the affidavit, signed by a local police officer . “The prescription fraud ring is known to have attempted or obtained various prescription drugs … from multiple pharmacies in Cache County as well as throughout the state of Utah.”
Thursday's local police affidavit was revealed by federal prosecutors, who filed it along with a request for a federal judge to revoke YoungBoy's pretrial detention and remand him until his trial.
YoungBoy's attorney did not immediately return a request for comment. The Cache County Sheriff's Office has not yet responded to requests for comment about YoungBoy's arrest.
According to filings Thursday, Utah authorities allege multiple people used a real doctor's name and identification number to call in prescriptions at local pharmacies for promethazine with codeine, a cough suppressant-opioid mix best known as an ingredient in ” purple drink” or “skinny.” Several such people were reportedly arrested in a car registered to YoungBoy. Several of them were also reportedly listed as visitors to the mansion where he is serving house arrest.
“A suspect calls in a prescription, claiming to be a real doctor and using a fraudulent patient name and birthday, all for promethazine with codeine,” the Utah State Police affidavit states: “At some point after the prescriptions are issued, they are filled and are selected from various individuals found to be involved in organized crime transactions'.
The filing sheds light on YoungBoy's surprise arrest Tuesday, when the rapper was hit with six new charges, including supplying or attempting to purchase prescription drugs. possession of other controlled substances; possession of a dangerous weapon by a prohibited person; a “pattern of unlawful activity”; detection of fraud; and forgery.
The new charges came as YoungBoy awaited trial on federal firearms charges filed against him in March 2021 stemming from a September 2020 incident in Baton Rouge, La., in which he was allegedly found with two guns. He was charged with violating a long-standing federal law barring convicted felons from ever having guns again — a rule that applied to him because he was convicted in 2017 of aggravated assault with a firearm.
The rapper was finally set to stand trial on those charges this July. But in a March ruling, a federal judge stayed the case to await a Supreme Court ruling on a major gun control case that could play a key role in YoungBoy's efforts to avoid a conviction.
Awaiting trial, YoungBoy has been confined to his Salt Lake City mansion — a house arrest that has now lasted more than two full years. In October, his lawyers claimed the “long period of social isolation” was harming his mental health and asked a judge to ease restrictions, including allowing him to travel to recording studios to create new music. But that request was largely rejected in November.
Now, based on the new arrest in Utah, federal prosecutors are seeking to revoke YoungBoy's house arrest entirely: “The United States respectfully requests that the court issue a warrant for the defendant's arrest, set a hearing to determine if the defendant is remanded in custody the order will be revoked and the defendant will be held pending trial.”
YoungBoy remains in the Cache County Jail as of Thursday, according to inmate records. Utah authorities have asked that he not be granted bail until a federal judge rules on a request to revoke his house arrest and keep him.
