Rapper NBA YoungBoy was booked into Cache County jail on suspicion of fraud, forgery, weapons and drug offenses Tuesday after federal agents executed a search warrant at a home he owns in Weber County.
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, also known professionally as “YoungBoy Never Broke Again” or just “YoungBoy,” was taken into custody on Tuesday after the search warrant was executed as part of “an ongoing investigation into criminal conduct,” the Cache County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.
Jail records show Gaulden is being investigated for forgery, identity fraud and a pattern of unlawful activity, all third-degree felonies. He is also suspected of possessing a weapon as a restricted person, a second-degree felony, and misdemeanor drug possession.
A spokesperson said Cache County investigators assisted federal agents in the Weber County search because the allegations originate from Cache County.
“Due to the complexity of the investigation we will not be releasing any additional details concerning the investigation,” the release states.
Gaulden has been under house arrest in Utah since October 2021 as he awaits trial on federal firearms charges originating out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Agents with the FBI, Homeland Security and the Secret Service participated in the Tuesday search, as well as the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, Ogden police, Layton SWAT and drug task forces from Box Elder and Cache/Rich counties, according to the release.
Cache County authorities did not specify the location of Gaulden’s Weber County property where the search warrant was executed, but his 8,800-square-foot home in Millcreek, where he has spent much of his pretrial release, was recently listed on the market for $5.5 million.
The rapper’s Louisiana charges stem from 2020 allegations that he brandished weapons while filming a music video in Baton Rouge.
In 2016, as a 17-year-old, Gaulden was accused of jumping out of a car and opening fire at a group of people in Baton Rouge. Initially charged with attempted murder, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault and was sentenced to three years of probation, according to court records.
Two years later, he was charged with violating his probation after prosecutors say he exchanged gunfire with someone in a passing vehicle outside the Trump International Beach Resort in Miami. Gaulden’s girlfriend was wounded and a bystander was killed in the shooting.
A judge in that case sentenced Gaulden to 90 days jail and banned him from performing in public for 14 months, ordering him to remain under house arrest until the end of his probation.
Gaulden told Billboard magazine in early 2023 that he was planning to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after his ankle monitor is removed. In December, a federal judge approved a request to modify the conditions of his house arrest, allowing him to participate in mental health and social services programs as well as the medical appointments, court appearances, and employment-related activities for which he was already allowed to leave his home.
But he had otherwise remained on house arrest until his Tuesday arrest. More information on the investigation leading to the Tuesday search warrant was not immediately available.
