For the past four years, local rap star NBA YoungBoy has wrestled with looming gun charges from one of his music video shoots in Baton Rouge.
Police rounded YoungBoy up with 15 members of his entourage after seizing more than a dozen guns from the video set along Chippewa Street in September 2020. YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, was federally indicted for possessing a gun while he's a convicted felon and faced up to 10 years in prison.
Now the 25-year-old chart-topping emcee has agreed to have his federal gun case moved from Baton Rouge to a federal court in Utah, where he is poised to plead guilty to the felon in possession of a firearm indictment.
Court documents show Gaulden consented Wednesday to having the case moved from Louisiana's U.S. Middle District Court, where it originated, to the the U.S. District Court of Utah, anchored in Salt Lake City. In the order, Gaulden also signed notice of his intent to enter his guilty plea once the case is transferred to Utah.
The move gives the feds jurisdiction to prosecute Gaulden in the state where he was arrested again on unrelated charges earlier this year. Utah authorities in April booked him on more than 60 felony counts tied to a "large scale prescription fraud ring."
Since May 10, he's remained held without bond at the Weber County Jail just north of Salt Lake City, awaiting trial on those charges.
Rules of criminal procedure in federal courts allow U.S. Attorneys to move prosecutions to new federal jurisdictions when there's a new arrest if the defendant agrees in writing to waive trial and plead guilty or no contest. U.S. Attorneys in both federal districts must approve the transfer.
Records show Ronald Gathe Jr., the U.S. Attorney in Louisiana's Middle District, signed off on the transfer Friday and federal prosecutors in Utah filed the felony weapons charge against Gaulden in federal court there Monday.
Gaulden's Atlanta attorney, Drew Findling, did not return phone calls or emails Monday seeking clarity on the case's jurisdictional shift.
Prior to his latest arrest, Gaulden lived at a Salt Lake City compound under house arrest while awaiting his Baton Rouge trial in federal court. The trial was initially slated to begin July 15.
However, the Utah arrest compelled Shelly Dick, the U.S. Middle District's chief judge presiding over Gaulden's gun case, to revoke his federal bond.
In his Utah case, Gaulden stands accused of fraudulently acquiring the prescription drugs promethazine and codeine from several pharmacies as part of a statewide ring involving as many as eight other people.
Gaulden's weapons case dates back to a Sept. 28, 2020 music video being filmed near the home of his grandfather. A "reliable source" reported that members of the NBA and "Bottom Boy Guerrillas" street crews were congregated at an abandoned lot in the 3800 block of Chippewa Street.
The complainant tipped off the police department's now-disbanded Street Crimes Unit, telling them several men on scene were walking down the street brandishing "uzis," pistols and long rifles, according to court documents. Police arrived and detained 16 people.
Gaulden was ultimately accused of illegally owning a.45-caliber Glock seized from his photographer as well as a 9mm handgun found inside one of the SUVs.
