NBA YoungBoy has been slapped with new RICO charges and has been denied bail in a prescription drug ring investigation launched by Utah authorities.
The Baton Rouge rapper was taken into custody in April and slapped with dozens of charges in what Cache County, Utah, police say was a fraudulent scheme he led by pretending to be a doctor and attempting to defraud local pharmacies of prescription drugs for his “patients.”
NBA YoungBoy, initially facing six (6) charges, is now facing 63 felony charges and misdemeanors, with new additional charges tacked on this week by investigators. The first set of charges Cache County Sheriffs listed were identity fraud, obtaining a prescription under false pretense and forgery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, and possession of a controlled substance.
Officials filed new charges, which are from another county, Weber County, which included being in possession of a firearm by a restricted person felony charge and two counts of fraudulently obtaining a prescription.
The rapper is alleged to have committed the offenses while being on house arrest at his Salt Lake City home and having various people pick up the drugs after he called in pretending to be a doctor and providing birthdays and names of alleged patients.
According to pharmacists who reported the fraud, YoungBoy, who was heard on phone recordings, used the names of well-known and established doctors when he called in to ask for patient prescriptions.
NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, has been in police custody since April 16. His legal problems worsened as he was awaiting trial in Louisiana for various firearms offenses.
In the meantime, the Weber County Attorney’s Office requested to have YoungBoy remain in custody until trial has been granted after a case was made that he was a flight risk.
“Even strict federal pre-trial supervision was unable to thwart his criminal activities and associations…. defendant is charged with a felony and there is substantial evidence to support the charge and clear and convincing evidence that he violated several material conditions of his federal pre-trial release,” Clark Harms, Deputy Weber County Attorney wrote in an application to deny bail.
NEW: @WeberCounty Attorney filing additional charges & requesting #NBAYoungboy be held without bail until further notice.@KUTV2News
PREVIOUS: https://t.co/2qlAS97c0m pic.twitter.com/Vhh6TErhtP
— ????? ?????? (@brian_schnee) April 29, 2024
Judge Joseph Bean later granted the request, which was handed down in a ruling on April 30, citing the reasons as there being “substantial evidence of defendant’s involvement in prescription fraud and distribution.”
“There is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is a danger to the community. In addition, the defendant appears to be a multi-state offender with primary contacts in Louisiana and is a risk of flight,” the judge added.
In the meantime, a bail hearing is scheduled for May 9, 2024. YoungBoy is being held at Cache County jail.
