LOGAN —Kentrell Desean Gaulden, a.k.a. rapper NBA YoungBoy, appeared in Logan’s 1st District Court on Thursday for a joint preliminary and bond hearing following his arrest in April. The 24-year-old Louisiana native has been in the Cache County Jail since law enforcement served a warrant to his Huntsville home last month.
Gaulden was arrested on suspicion of dozens of charges related to a fraudulent prescription operation he is accused of conducting from his home in Huntsville. He is being charged with 46 counts, including pattern of unlawful activity, forgery and identity fraud.
During Thursday’s hearing, Gaulden appeared before Judge Spencer Walsh, who accepted an agreement made between prosecutors and YoungBoy’s defense attorneys.
As part of the deal, attorneys for both sides agreed to a $100,000 bond in exchange for Gaulden waiving his preliminary hearing, where prosecutors would have presented their evidence to convince a judge that the crimes were committed by the defendant.
Judge Walsh bound NBA Youngboy over for trial and set his arraignment for July 1, when he is expected to enter a plea to the charges.
According to court records, warrants have been issued for Gaulden’s arrest in Weber County, where he’s facing additional charges related to the prescription fraud case.
The rapper is accused of having friends and family fill phony prescriptions at pharmacies in Cache Valley. Court documents revealed multiple pharmacies across the state were targeted.
The alleged scheme involved individuals calling in fraudulent prescriptions under the names of real doctors and using fake patient names and birthdates. Alleged associates of Gaulden would then pick up the prescriptions from various pharmacies.
According to investigators, callers linked to Gaulden would call in prescriptions using the name of a real doctor in Provo, in some cases – but provide fake patient information. Individuals would then pick up the order from pharmacies, mainly promethazine and codeine.
The rapper was arrested April 16 at his Weber County home, where he was on house arrest while awaiting trial on federal weapons charges.
According to court records, additional charges were filed against Gaulden in Weber County, adding 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 to the list.