Jury Finds NBA YoungBoy Not Guilty In California Felony Gun Trial

NBA YoungBoy, whose government name is Kentrell Gaulden, received the good news on Friday morning, and he reportedly responded to the news by saying, “I feel great,” per Nancy Dillon of Rolling Stone.

“I feel great,” NBA YoungBoy tells Rolling Stone.

— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) July 15, 2022

The situation is related to federal firearms charges the rapper was hit with back in March 2021. Authorities closed in on the rapper while he was in Los Angeles, as he had an outstanding federal warrant.

However, NBA YoungBoy attempted to evade the officers, and a K-9 unit had to be used to track him down, per TMZ. Two guns, one of which was unregistered, were found within the car, and he was ultimately charged and repeatedly denied bond over the following months.

However, the rapper was ultimately released and placed on house arrest in Utah back in October.

A few months later, it was announced that NBA YoungBoy’s trial would begin around mid-2022, as Blavity previously reported.

“We’re 100 percent convinced of his innocence, and now we have to continue to evaluate our strategy,” the rapper’s defense attorney, Drew Findling, told Rolling Stone at the time. “The unconstitutionality of law enforcement was clearly evident to the court and resulted in a slew of evidence of being thrown out. We’re looking forward to going to court.”

Now, the jury has found NBA YoungBoy not guilty of knowingly possessing a firearm during the arrest.

The key word is knowingly, as attorney James P. Manasseh pointed out earlier this week.

“In the indictment, they use the world ‘knowingly.’ Knowingly means he has to be aware, and it is their burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was aware that particular gun was in that particular car at that particular time. Not any gun, but that particular gun, that he knew it was in the car,” Manasseh pointed out in his opening statement, according to Roling Stone.

“They have no fingerprint evidence to submit to you that indicates that he handled that firearm. They will not have any DNA evidence that they can present to you that will indicate that his DNA is on that firearm. In fact, what they’re going to show is that there are five different DNA profiles on that gun. So many that they can’t really identify and say whose might have been on it,” he continued.

NBA Youngboy and his legal team who beat the feds in court today pic.twitter.com/kTZhmiocQj

— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) July 15, 2022

With the long-drawn-out legal matter now behind him, it looks like NBA YoungBoy can continue making chart-topping hits and parenting his 12 (confirmed) children with peace of mind.