CACHE COUNTY, Utah — A rapper with millions of followers who was serving house arrest in Utah was arrested for his alleged involvement in a "large scale prescription fraud ring" in Cache County.
NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, was booked Tuesday and faces 63 charges.
The alleged offenses are:
- Possession of a dangerous weapon by restricted person (2nd-degree felony; 1 count)
- Pattern of unlawful activity (2nd-degree felony; 1 count)
- Identity fraud (3rd-degree felony; 20 counts)
- Forgery (3rd-degree felony; 20 counts)
- Procuring/attempting to procure drug/prescription (Class-A misdemeanor; 20 counts)
- Possession of controlled substance (Class-B misdemeanor; 1 count)
According to the arrest report, 24-year-old Gaulden was part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain promethazine with codeine — which, according to the National Library of Medicine, is mixed with Sprite and/or alcohol to make "purple drank" or "lean," and is popular with rappers.
Police say Gaulden and "many other individuals" (who were not named in the documents) tried to obtain the prescribed cough suppressant from multiple pharmacies in Cache County.
According to police, Gaulden called in a prescription supposedly for a 74-year-old woman to a pharmacy in Hyrum in September. They said he claimed to be a physician in the Provo area, using "an actual, valid DEA number, NPI number and other identification for the real physician." The pharmacist noticed that the phone number did not match the number of said doctor's clinic, so they called the doctor directly. The doctor said he did not write a prescription for a woman by that name, and added that this sort of thing "happened several times today."
Similar incidents occurred at other pharmacies in Cache County, and police said two women picked up the prescribed drugs during one instance. They were then detained as part of the investigation and later arrested for their alleged involvement in the "prescription fraud ring."
The Cache County Sheriff's Office said the vehicle the women arrived in to pick up the drugs was registered to Gaulden. Then later, his business manager contacted the sheriff's office about getting the vehicle out of impound. The officer asked to speak directly to Gaulden. While speaking to Gaulden, the arresting officer said he heard someone — possibly Gaulden — suggest asking about "the prescription that they picked up."
After investigating and learning of similar incidents of fraudulent prescriptions allegedly being called in to various pharmacies, a search warrant for Gaulden's home in Weber County was approved and then executed on Tuesday. The Cache County Sheriff's Office reported that multiple agencies, including the FBI, the Secret Service and the Layton SWAT team, conducted the search on his residence.
Police said Gaulden denied any knowledge of the prescription fraud, but they found a prescription bottle of Promethazine in his home, with the name of the "patient" on it that was allegedly called in fraudulently.
They also said marijuana was found in the vehicle that was impounded, which was registered to Gaulden. They also found a gun inside his home, which he claimed belonged to his wife. However, court documents state that the gun was "not in a secured location and in a place easily and frequently accessible" by Gaulden, and he admitted to picking it up and moving it at one point.
He was booked in the Cache County Jail and denied bail.
Reports indicate the rapper was in Utah under house arrest after he was accused of federal gun and other charges.
Local media in Baton Rouge reported his lawyers argued that moving Gaulden to Utah would keep him out of trouble.
In December 2023, a federal judge reportedly lessened Gaulden's house arrest conditions to allow him mental health treatments.
Also in 2023, the rapper made headlines when he announced his intent to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Stay with FOX 13 News and fox13now.com for the latest updates on this developing story.
