NBA YoungBoy has received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, as part of a series of pardons issued on Wednesday (May 28th). The rapper, whose legal name is Kentrell Gaulden, was serving time for multiple gun possession charges.
Gaulden’s lawyer, Drew Findling, confirmed the pardon to Rolling Stone, stating: “I did not do the pardon application, but can confirm he was pardoned.”
Following the announcement, the rapper expressed his gratitude through a statement posted to his Instagram stories. “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. “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.”
The 24-year-old artist had been entangled in legal troubles spanning multiple states. In December 2024, he pleaded guilty to charges related to a 2020 gun possession arrest in Louisiana and another gun charge filed in Utah. These pleas resulted in a 23-month federal prison sentence, with credit given for time served since at least May 2024, when authorities took him into custody following a raid on his Utah residence.
Prior to this, on 16th April 2024, Gaulden was arrested in connection with what prosecutors described as a fraudulent prescription drug ring while he was already under house arrest in Huntsville, Utah for federal weapon charges. Additional charges followed ten days later, including a second-degree felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and two Class A misdemeanor counts related to distributing a controlled substance.
As part of his plea agreement, Gaulden admitted to being a felon in possession of a Masterpiece Arms 9mm gun and a .45 caliber Glock Model 21 pistol during his arrest in Baton Rouge on 28th September 2020, when he was filming a music video outside his grandfather’s house. He also acknowledged “knowingly possessing” a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol found in his Utah home, where he was serving house arrest related to the pending Louisiana case.
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According to local news station KUTV, Gaulden had returned to Utah last month after serving time in federal prison before receiving this presidential pardon.
