Boosie Badazz Takes Legal Action Over $600K Payment for Failed Trump Pardon Bid

Boosie Badazz is reportedly seeking a refund after paying $600,000 to a pair of political operatives who promised to help secure a pardon from President Donald Trump, an effort that ultimately went nowhere.

Attorneys for the rapper, whose legal name is Torence Hatch, have filed an arbitration case against lobbyists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, along with their firm JM Burkman & Associates, over the unsuccessful pardon push. The effort came as the rapper was heading toward sentencing on a gun possession charge, a moment when a presidential pardon could have significantly altered his legal fate.

According to Boosie's account, Wohl and Burkman presented themselves as having direct access to Trump, essentially suggesting they had him on speed dial, and later gave the impression that a pardon was all but guaranteed. That clemency never materialized, and per a report from NOTUS, White House official stated that the administration's clemency office had no record of ever hearing from either Wohl or Burkman on Boosie's behalf.

The arbitration filing, submitted in March, seeks the return of $300,000, half of what Boosie reportedly paid, based on a clause in his retainer agreement with the lobbyists stating that portion of the payment would be refunded if a pardon wasn't secured. Wohl and Burkman, for their part, dispute that such a provision was ever formally agreed to, and are pushing to have the arbitration case dismissed, according to legal documents obtained by NOTUS.

Responding to the dispute, Burkman told Billboard in an email that he believed Boosie had little grounds for complaint, arguing that few of his roughly three decades of lobbying work had required as much effort. He maintained that the contract provision at the center of the dispute was never actually agreed upon, and pointed to an unrelated arrest on a violent crime charge in Texas earlier this year as a factor that made securing a pardon considerably harder. He said he and Wohl had worked hard on Boosie's behalf regardless of the outcome.

The pardon effort traces back to 2023, when Boosie was charged with illegally possessing a firearm, a charge tied to his status as a previously convicted felon. The case moved through a lengthy series of procedural delays before a trial was set for last summer. That August, however, Boosie opted to accept a plea deal instead, saying at the time that he was simply tired of continuing to fight the charge.

As sentencing approached, Boosie brought on Wohl and Burkman specifically to pursue a pardon. He wouldn't have been the first rapper to receive one under Trump; NBA YoungBoy was granted a pardon in May 2025 covering weapons and drug convictions, and Lil Wayne received a full pardon during the final days of Trump's first term in office back in 2021.

Even without a pardon, Boosie ultimately avoided prison time. At his sentencing hearing in January, a federal judge opted for leniency, ordering three years of supervised release rather than incarceration. Boosie called himself fortunate at the time to be avoiding prison altogether.

That reprieve didn't last long before new legal trouble surfaced. In May, Boosie was charged with felony assault in Houston, accused of striking a nightclub bouncer in the head with a glass hookah.

The rapper has characterized the case as little more than an attempt by the bouncer to extract money from him, and he was released on bond shortly after the arrest. Just last month, probation officials overseeing his earlier federal gun case recommended that he serve a year and a half in prison, arguing that he had squandered the opportunity the court had given him to remain free.