LOGAN, Utah — Baton Rouge rapper NBA Youngboy waived his preliminary hearing in a Utah courtroom Thursday morning, agreeing to let a prescription drug fraud case against him go forward. A judge set bail at $100,000 and scheduled an arraignment for July 1.
The rapper, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, was still being held after the court appearance. He’s accused of posing as a doctor to dupe various pharmacies into selling him a codeine-laden cough suppressant that is often abused.
Gaulden also faces a federal gun charge in Baton Rouge. He had been out on a pre-trial release pending a trial this summer. The federal court in Louisiana wants the rapper returned to Louisiana if the Utah court frees him pending proceedings there.
Gaulden, 24, was being allowed to live and record in Utah while awaiting his federal trial. After the Utah charges were announced last month, Louisiana federal prosecutors asked a judge to void his house arrest.
Initially, Gaulden faced 63 counts, but the docket has been reduced to list 48 charges alleging identity fraud, forgery and obtaining or attempting to obtain prescription drugs illegally.
In Louisiana, Gaulden is accused of illegally possessing a gun as a convicted felon and of possessing an unregistered firearm. He has pleaded not guilty. The rapper had previously been convicted of aggravated assault after a 2016 shooting.
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The Herald Journal in Logan, Utah, contributed to this report.
