Boosie Badazz thought he was a free man.

Days later, he says he learned true freedom from his penalty was never a real option. Now the Louisiana rapper is telling the world how he believes he got duped out of $600,000.

He says the people behind it promised him something only the president could deliver: clemency.

Boosie says he was so sure the pardon was real he ran through his house shirtless and jumped on the bed — only to learn days later it was never signed, and now he just wants the $300,000 he was promised back. (Photos: @boosienewig/Instagram, Allison Robbert / For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Boosie recently sat down with Rickey Smiley on the “Rickey Smiley On the Spot” podcast for an interview. About 30 minutes into the Aug. 4 episode, he walked through the wild 2025 ordeal step by step. He said the ordeal has now turned into a lawsuit against conservative operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl.

The “Wipe Me Down” artist, who once had drama with the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity for wearing paraphernalia without being duly initiated, alleges the pair took his money under the promise of securing a Trump pardon.

Born Torence Hatch Jr., the chart-topper explained his marijuana felonies got dismissed once cannabis laws changed. His federal firearms case stuck around.

‘That’s Wild’: Boosie Badazz Claims He Paid $600K for a Trump Pardon That Never Came—Now He’s Suing MAGA Insiders

“I got marijuana felonies. That’s legal everywhere right now,” he said. “So the judge dropped that.” Boosie admitted he knew he was guilty, so he wasn’t going to dispute that.

“I wouldn’t go to trial to fight the charge,” he said, referencing the 2023 incident. “At that time I did arm myself. I’m in a gang banging neighborhood shooting a video.”

The rapper faced a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Despite the potential penalty, prosecutors recommended he serve two years.

Because of this, the artist says the duo approached him last year claiming they could land a pardon straight from Trump. Before he wired a dime, he demanded one thing first.

“I’m a street dude,” he recalled. “I ain’t [going to] send your money. You don’t send me no contract.”

The contract called for $600,000 upfront, with a $300,000 refund guaranteed if the pardon didn’t come through before sentencing. Both sides signed. Boosie wired the money.

According to a copy of the agreement obtained by The New York Times, Burkman’s firm agreed to build a “compelling and comprehensive” pardon petition highlighting Boosie’s acceptance of responsibility, nonviolent criminal history, and charitable work.

The contract also allowed Boosie to seek a $300,000 refund if a pardon wasn’t secured by the agreed deadline. Still, it was deeply flawed. It reportedly included a major typo, listing a Jan. 31, 2025 deadline even though it was signed in September 2025. The backdated deadline was intended to be Jan. 31 of this year.

Burkman and Wohl also claim Boosie didn’t return the signed agreement until after arbitration proceedings had begun.

On New Year’s Day, eight days before Boosie’s Jan. 9 sentencing on the plea he had negotiated, he says his lawyer got a message claiming Trump had already signed off.

“They text my lawyer and say the pardon has been signed by Donald Trump,” Boosie recalled. He said he believed it instantly. “Got me running through the house with my shirt off… I’m jumping all on the bed. Donald Trump signed a pardon.”

Boosie said he spent the next few days glued to the news, waiting on an announcement. He was already planning what he called a “pardon party.” It never came.

Then came a turn nobody saw coming: the judge skipped prison entirely and gave Boosie three years of probation instead. (Boosie has since been accused by federal probation supervisors of violating the terms of his supervised released after he was charged with assaulting a security guard at a Houston hookah bar in May.)

With the pardon still nowhere in sight, he asked for the refund with the promise to file a lawsuit if he didn’t get it. The response from the lobbyist set off alarm bells fast.

“I said, ‘Bro, I’m suing you. I’m going marching. I’m going to march in Georgia with signs saying, “Return my money.” I don’t know who y’all think y’all is, but I am a powerful Black man,” he said. “They love me. My story is going to be heard.”

“Then he said, ‘OK, we’ll just file for bankruptcy,’” Boosie recalled. “I said, ‘So this a Ponzi scheme?’” That bankruptcy line convinced him this wasn’t their first rodeo.

Boosie then clapped back at critics calling him a snitch for suing.

“This is like a contract. It’s like a record contract,” he said. “Once you sign a contract, you have to abide by that contract.”

Court filings first reported by NOTUS back up his account, alleging Burkman and Wohl falsely claimed they could deliver a pardon, then refused to hand over the $300,000 owed under their own contract. It’s being called the first public legal fight involving a pardon lobbyist during Trump’s second term.

In an interview with The New York Times, Burkman shared his story.

According to him, he and partner Jacob Wohl pulled out all the stops, launching what he called a “massive, highly tailored advocacy campaign” that reached lawmakers, executive branch officials, political power brokers and media influencers in hopes of securing a presidential pardon for Boosie.

“In 25 years,” Burkman claimed, “we cannot think of a single client for whom our firm has done more work than Boosie.”

Regardless of all of this, the lobbyist still believes that the artist deserves a pardon.

Trump has granted clemency to more than 1,700 people since returning to office, including blanket pardons for Jan. 6 defendants and a pardon for NBA YoungBoy. In his first term, he pardoned Lil Wayne, commuted Kodak Black’s sentence, and freed Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris.

The interview lit up social media.

View on Threads

One person wrote on Threads, “BOOSIE HAS BEEN VINDICATED!! THIS MAN IS FUNNY AF. HE WAS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT HOW THE LOBBYIST HE LEGALLY CONTRACTED WITH LIED AND STATED THE PARDON WAS SECURED, LATER DEFAULTING ON THE AGREEMENT.”

Sympathy poured in on X too.

“It either jail or freedom I would of paid that 600k too,” one user wrote. “Come on mane 600k is alot to just ‘Throw away.’ If i was boosie i would of been pissed too! Yea ima need that back my guy. Dawg said ‘I’m running through the house with my shirt off!’ they done robbed Unc!” another said.

“It costs money to request a pardon, duh. That doesn’t mean it gets approved,” one person informed.

Still some just didn’t care.

“So is he admitting to bribery or money laundering… I can’t keep up with all the self snitching lingo other than being a goofy?!?” one tweeted. “Boosie you can’t trick God,” another added. “Went from victory lap to confusion asap,” a third wrote.

The internet remains split on whether he’s a scam victim or just made a very expensive bet.

Boosie Explains How He Got Bamboozled After Paying $600K for a Trump Pardon