Rapper NBA YoungBoy and several of his associates orchestrated a “large-scale prescription fraud ring” to illegally obtain prescription medications at multiple Utah-area pharmacies, police allege.
An affidavit filed Thursday by a Cache County Sheriff's Office deputy named the rapper (born Kentrell DeSean Gaulden) as the prime suspect in a months-long scheme that involved posing as a doctor to fill promethazine prescriptions. with codeine, a controlled substance. in pharmacies in cities such as Hyrum, Logan and Smithfield. The affidavit was filed two days after Gaulden, 24, was arrested Tuesday night on 63 charges, including charges of identity fraud, forgery and “obtaining or attempting to obtain” prescription drugs, according to court documents. reviewed by The Times.
A legal representative for Gaulden, also known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again, had no comment to the Times on Friday.
Filed by Cache County Deputy Tyson Nielsen, the affidavit describes multiple cases dating from September 2023 to February 2024 of alleged identity fraud and attempts to obtain promethazine with codeine, a key ingredient used to make a drink with Cough syrup commonly known as “lean,” “purple drank,” and “sizzurp.”
On September 19, 2023, two pharmacies in the Cache County area received a prescription order from a person claiming to be a doctor in Provo. The person who allegedly posed as the doctor provided valid identifying information and requested to fill a prescription for two patients in their 70s, “Bethel White” and “Gwendlyn Cox.” In both cases, the actual doctor (who was not identified) told the pharmacies that he did not have patients with those names and said that his “name and credentials are being used fraudulently.”
A third fraudulent prescription for the same medication was allegedly ordered at a Smithfield pharmacy on January 17, 2024, again by “the suspect who identified himself as the doctor.” The prescription was for a patient named “Gwendolyn Cox,” not “Gwendlyn,” with a different date of birth. The pharmacists became suspicious of the request and attempted to contact the doctor, but the call was disconnected, the affidavit says. The real doctor later confirmed to Smithfield Pharmacy that he did not place the order and that he did not have a patient named “Gwendolyn Cox.”
Rapper NBA YoungBoy, also known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again, on stage at Lil' WeezyAna Fest at Champions Square in New Orleans in 2017.
(Amy Harris / Invision / Associated Press)
According to the documents, Nielsen began investigating the alleged fraud scheme in the middle of the January incident. Two women allegedly arrived in a white Chevy Tahoe, registered to Gaulden, to pick up a prescription for a “friend” at the Smithfield Pharmacy. Cache County Police arrested the unidentified women (“Associates 1 and 2”). They were later arrested for their alleged involvement in the “prescription fraud ring.”
Nielsen said that in the midst of her investigation, “Gwendolyn Cox” asked to get in touch. However, during the conversation, her caller allegedly offered “White” as a last name instead of “Cox” and did not provide a full date of birth or home address. “During the conversation with 'Gwendolyn' it became very clear that a fake voice was being used,” Nielsen wrote in the affidavit, before citing the caller's pronunciation of “ask” as “axe,” which he claims is “consistent” with a southern dialect” in several states, including Gaulden's native Louisiana.
Court documents detail an alleged conversation between Nielsen, Gaulden and the rapper's brother (“Associate 3”), which included questions about the medication prescribed for “Gwendolyn Cox.” The affidavit also lists a handful of “fraudulent activities” under the Provo doctor's name; all of them were prescription requests for promethyzane with codeine for patients between 60 and 70 years old at pharmacies in Utah.
“Several of the names are repetitions, including combinations of first and last names with different birthdays,” Nielsen said.
The affidavit continues: “Through evaluation of the fraud incidents, it is clear that there are numerous individuals involved in furthering the fraud scheme, identified as a company. The ongoing fraud and suspected drug distribution occurring between Kentrell Gaulden and his associates further corroborate the pattern of illegal activity, as they have participated in at least three episodes of illegal activity that are all similar in purpose, results, participants, victims and methods of commission. “
Gaulden was arrested Tuesday when Cache County deputies executed a search warrant at his Utah mansion. Guests at Gaulden's home were also detained.
Searching the home, police found a gun that the rapper claimed belonged to his wife, two bottles of the antibiotic doxycycline (one prescribed to Gaulden, another to a patient named “Caroline White”), and several bottles of promethazine with codeine. , the affidavit says. . Officers also confiscated all electronic devices in the home, for which Gaulden allegedly did not provide passwords.
Nielsen alleged that the Grammy-nominated “Need It” rapper denied “knowledge of any illegally possessed prescriptions” and fraud schemes.
According to the affidavit, Gaulden's previous run-ins with the law date back to 2018, when he was arrested for alleged aggravated assault and kidnapping. He was arrested again in 2019 and 2020. In March 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Gaulden, accusing the musician of possessing an unregistered firearm and “possession of firearms by a convicted felon” in connection with his case from 2020. As of October 2021, he has been under house arrest at his home in Weber County.
The affidavit concludes by alleging that Gaulden “has participated in an ongoing criminal enterprise that has been involved in the commission of multiple serious crimes,” despite his house arrest.
“According to the FBI, Kentrell is the known leader of a violent gang in the Louisiana area,” the affidavit continues. “Based on Kentrell's history, it is evident that he is prone to violence.”
Gaulden, who was born in Baton Rouge, began rapping as a teenager and posted his music on YouTube. After signing to music label Never Broke Again, Gaulden released his first album “Before I Go” in 2016, which paved the way for more releases and collaborations with rappers 21 Savage, Boosie Badazz, Yo Gotti, Young Thug and Future. The rapper's rise was plagued by legal problems, including an arrest for his alleged connection to a shooting in 2016. Despite this, his music career endured.
In 2022, Gaulden entered the Grammy conversation for the first time, earning a nomination for melodic rap performance for his work on Tyler, the Creator's song “Wusyaname.”
Speaking to Billboard while under house arrest in February 2023, Gaulden said he hopes to “change” when he is released.
“I'm very curious about the person I will become,” he said.
Times researcher Scott Wilson contributed to this report.
