Utah Pharmacist Reacts to NBA YoungBoy’s Presidential Pardon

SALT LAKE CITY — 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.

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.

“Each one of those stores lost somewhere between $15,000 and $30,00,” Cowley said.

“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.

“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.

Trump shouldn't pander to the cancerous rap culture, let alone this 'artist'.

A POTUS should have the policy, "I hate rap and all the sociopathology and psychopathy associated with it. No good American should abide by this vice."

I'm tired of having to decode Trump's off the wall activities like this.

Plus the sentences and turnstile justice nowadays is so lenient that why bother with pardons? The people, regardless of what they are in for, will be out in a few weeks or months anyway.

Depressing when Trump does this stuff, he's short-sheeting the people who defend him.

Well KevinB, NBC is not a reliable source, & Charlottesville is not exactly a conservative bastion with the U of VA. located there. The judicial system is a racket as well, in fact corruption runs rampant, and the conservative is proportionately convicted while the liberal is acquitted.

If you target someone, and you have people on the line for crimes they committed, it becomes very easy to get them to willingly engage in a setup operation. Thus, everything you see is not really what took place. In fact, he may have assumed that he was receiving donations for his campaigns.

Note, I am not saying this was the case. What I am saying is that politics has become a very dirty game. The fact that they have video evidence leads me to be very suspicious. I mean look what they did to Trump. Do you think it might be possible that the scenario I am relaying could be what happened? Trump has someone looking at pardons, he is not randomly picking these out. Also, sentencing in may cases is done on who the person is, not necessarily what the person did.

I personally could care less who Trump pardons, for my reason for standing with Trump is for what he is trying to do for the nation & her citizens. <

While that is being said by me, I have no clue as to why Trump chose to pardon NBA Young Boy or whatever his rap name is. Perhaps it is to capture more blacks as supporters, because blacks have historically have received harsher sentences than a white who commits the same crime.

If that helps to bring the races together for a common goal, then perhaps it is worth it. But until we understand the why we will never know exactly what his motivation might be for the pardons. While they may give a bad impression, the world is imperfect, and DJT is a human also. However, I have lost track as to the number of times that I have questioned things he did, that ultimately made sense as time passed.

There are bigger issues at stake that have impacts on generations to come, and to me that is far more important than pardons. Hopefully in time, we will see the benefits of his decisions. Hopefully, no one will be hurt by the pardons.

In other words KevinB, I will overlook for now, that which makes little sense with the knowledge that the task he has undertaken is not a task many would dare engage in, and that task like I said has far greater consequences for the entire globe's humanity. I honestly believe that he is not walking alone with this task either, if you understand what I mean by that statement. 🙂👍

Keep in mind people like Senator Ted Stevens & Congressman Tom Delay, and more recently AG Ken Paxton. All straight arrow, all targeted on corruption charges all who have suffered even after proving themselves innocent of the charges leveled against them.

If Trump had not been elected, he too most likely would be behind bars for BS charges, and yet the jury found him guilty with scant evidence.

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