NBA YoungBoy, a Baton Rouge based rapper famous for chart-topping hits like "Outside Today," is officially outside of federal custody after President Donald Trump granted him clemency Wednesday, according to the rapper's social media account and multiple news websites.
The president's decision came as part of eight other pardons, including former GOP Congressman Michael Grimm and real estate entrepreneurs Todd and Julie Chrisley.
“I want to thank President Donald Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building – as a man, as a father, and as an artist.” YoungBoy wrote in a statement posted to his Instagram.
“I’m grateful. I’m focused. I’m ready,” he added.
YoungBoy, whose legal name is Kentrell Gaulden, has been in and out of jail and house arrest since he was arrested in 2020 for federal gun possession charges while filming a music video in Baton Rouge.
The 25-year old was currently serving time at a residential reentry management office in Phoenix — part of the Bureau of Prison's system, that operate halfway houses and manage detainees as they prepare for supervised home confinement or release.
Gaulden’s latest sentence stems from a November 2024 case where Gaulden pled guilty to charges tied to a large-scale prescription drug fraud scheme. Prosecutors described it as an “ongoing criminal enterprise” that allegedly involved multiple accomplices using false identities to obtain prescriptions for promethazine and codeine from pharmacies across Utah.
YoungBoy's last known connection to Trump occurred on Mother’s Day in 2019, when gunmen opened fire on the rapper and his entourage outside the Trump International Hotel in Miami, wounding his girlfriend. Members of his crew, who were legally armed, returned fire, fatally striking a bystander. Miami-Dade police ruled Gaulden’s associates acted in self-defense.
He is the latest rapper to be pardoned by the President, joining Kodak Black, Lil Wayne, and A$AP Rocky.