SALT LAKE CITY (KSL TV) — A Utah pharmacist is upset the man who admitted to breaking into his pharmacy has been let off the hook.
On May 28, President Donald Trump pardoned 25-year-old rapper NBA YoungBoy, who had been sentenced to nearly two years in jail in Utah back in December 2024.
The President didn’t explain why he pardoned the rap star. NBA YoungBoy’s record includes drug fraud and weapons charges, both federally and at the state level.
“My very first gut reaction to hearing that pardon was what a terrible lesson to teach your boys,” Phil Cowley, a Utah pharmacist, said.
Cowley was not happy to learn that NBA YoungBoy is now a free man.
The performer, whose given name is Kentrell Gaulden, was serving a 23-month sentence for federal gun charges. Before that, he paid a $25,000 fine for his involvement in a prescription drug fraud ring.
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“He swept the lower shelf, and he got all the hydrocodone,” Cowley said.
In 2023, at least 16 pharmacies across Utah and other states were broken into.
“Each one of those stores lost somewhere between $15,000 and $30,000,” Cowley said.
That includes Cache Valley Pharmacy, which Cowley owned at the time.
“The windows I had to replace, took my whole month’s worth of earnings from me,” he said.
Gaulden was also involved with fraud calls, where callers disguised their voice to ask for promethazine with codeine. Cowley told KSL TV it’s often used to make something called purple drank.
RELATED | Rapper NBA YoungBoy pleads guilty in Utah prescription drug fraud ring
“As soon as they caught him, everything stopped,” Cowley said. “And so now, is he going to do it again?”
Gaulden’s attorney also worked with President Trump in a 2022 election interference investigation in Georgia.
“To get pardoned because you know the right people, I mean, what lesson does that teach anybody,” Cowley said.
On Instagram, the rapper thanked the president, saying the pardon allowed him to keep building as “a man, a father and an artist.”
“Well then, be a man. You have the money, go help the businesses you hurt,” Cowley said.
Cache County Sheriff D. Chad Jensen released the following statement regarding the pardon:
Cache County Attorney Taylor Sorensen and I have recently been made aware that President Donald Trump has pardoned Kentrell Desean Gaulden aka NBA Young Boy who pled guilty in November 2024 to his role in a prescription drug fraud ring in Cache County. He also pled guilty to additional charges in other jurisdictions. His pardon comes in a grouping with other convicts across the country. The reason given for these pardons was to correct “a politicized and weaponized justice system.”
We are extremely proud of the work our investigator and prosecutors did on this case as well as grateful for all the help we received from other local and federal agencies. Mr. Gaulden pled guilty to the charges in this investigation, and we feel strongly the Justice System in Cache County is far from a “weaponized system of justice.” We have highly trained, honest, experienced and professional sheriff’s investigators and county prosecutors, along with respected District Court Judges and Defense Attorneys. We, along with all of our staff are proud of the work we do in Cache County.
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