
NBA YoungBoy’s Trump pardon left Utah pharmacist Phil Cowley fearful the rapper’s crew would possibly return to crime after devastating his enterprise.
NBA YoungBoy walked free after President Trump pardoned the rapper for his function in a Utah drug fraud ring and now an area pharmacist whose retailer was hit within the scheme says he’s bracing for extra hassle.
Phil Cowley, a pharmacist in Cache Valley, Utah, says he’s nonetheless recovering from the monetary harm attributable to the break-ins tied to the rapper’s crew and is fearful historical past might repeat itself.
“As quickly as they caught him, every part stopped,” Cowley advised East Idaho Information. “And so now, is he going to do it once more?”
Cowley’s pharmacy was certainly one of a number of focused in a prescription drug fraud operation that led to losses starting from $15,000 to $30,000 per retailer.
“The home windows I needed to change took my complete month’s price of earnings from me,” Cowley mentioned.
The person behind the crimes, Kentrell Gaulden — higher referred to as NBA YoungBoy — had pleaded responsible to 46 counts of prescription fraud and was serving a 23-month sentence for federal gun costs when former President Donald Trump granted him clemency on Tuesday (Could 28).
President Trump’s determination was a part of a broader wave of pardons geared toward what the White Home referred to as a “politicized and weaponized justice system,” in response to reviews.
Native prosecutors in Utah pushed again, defending their investigation and the fees in opposition to Gaulden.
Cache County officers mentioned they stood by the integrity of their case and the professionalism of their regulation enforcement businesses.
“We’re extraordinarily happy with the work our investigator and prosecutors did on this case in addition to grateful for all the assistance we obtained from different native and federal businesses,” mentioned Sheriff D. Chad Jensen and Cache County Lawyer Taylor Sorensen in a joint assertion. “Mr. Gaulden pled responsible to the fees on this investigation, and we really feel strongly the Justice System in Cache County is way from a ‘weaponized system of justice.’”
Cowley, nonetheless, mentioned the pardon sends the unsuitable message.
“My very first intestine response to listening to that pardon was what a horrible lesson to show your boys,” he mentioned.
Gaulden, who had already paid a $25,000 wonderful in reference to the fraud case, thanked President Trump in an Instagram put up, saying the pardon would assist him “proceed rising as a person, father, and artist.”
The Baton Rouge rapper is now getting ready for a 32-city MASA Tour kicking off in September 2025.
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