Among President Tump’s pardons on Wednesday was the prolific and popular Louisiana rapper born Kentrell D. Gaulden, better known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy.
“I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building — as a man, as a father, and as an artist,” Mr. Gaulden said in a statement on Wednesday. “This moment means a lot. It opens the door to a future I’ve worked hard for and I am fully prepared to step into this.”
Mr. Gaulden, 25, pleaded guilty in December to possessing weapons as a felon, ending more than five years of legal morass, including federal weapons charges across three states, that had hampered his booming career.
As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison on gun charges related to a 2020 case in Louisiana, along with five years of probation and a $200,000 fine for a gun charge in a separate Utah case from last year, while he was on house arrest there. (Mr. Gaulden had previously been found not guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon at trial in California in 2022.)
Mr. Gaulden faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in the Louisiana case and 15 years in the Utah case. After receiving credit for time served, he was released from federal prison in March and sent to home confinement; last month, he became a free man, recently announcing a 32-date U.S. tour to begin in September.
Andrew Lieber, the rapper’s touring agent, said, “He’s a fully free man now, with no travel restrictions. The world is at his fingertips.”
Joe Coscarelli is a culture reporter for The Times who focuses on popular music and a co-host of the Times podcast “Popcast (Deluxe).”
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