Bobb’e J. Thompson Sentenced After Stolen Gun Found During Iowa Traffic Stop

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1996, Bobb’e J. Thompson rose to prominence as a child actor in the mid-2000s. He gained widespread recognition for his recurring role as Stanley on “That’s So Raven” and later portrayed Tracy Jr., the son of Tracy Morgan’s character, on NBC’s Emmy-winning comedy series “30 Rock.”

Thompson, 28, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa after pleading guilty in April to one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. A federal district judge in Iowa sentenced him to more than two years in federal prison.

The federal charges originated from an autumn traffic stop in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. According to court records and disclosures from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, law enforcement officers clocked a vehicle driven by Thompson traveling at 104 mph—more than 30 mph above the posted speed limit.

In film, Thompson played co-starring roles in comedies including the 2008 movie “Role Models,” as well as “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” the sketch comedy show “Wild ‘N Out,” and the 2015 drama “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”

As an officer initiated the stop and approached the vehicle, police observed Thompson and a passenger attempting to swap seats inside the moving automobile. Upon reaching the driver’s side window, the officer noted a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the cabin.

A subsequent search of the vehicle by law enforcement officers yielded a backpack containing multiple bags of legally packaged, dispensary-bought marijuana, alongside a loaded .40-caliber handgun fitted with a 15-round magazine. A background query on the firearm’s serial number revealed that the handgun had previously been reported stolen from a vehicle in Kansas City, Missouri.

Thompson’s conviction in federal court follows a series of prior legal troubles that established his status as a prohibited person under federal firearm statutes. In 2020, Thompson was convicted of misdemeanor battery and assault. Two years later, in 2022, he was convicted of illegal firearm possession, a charge that legally barred him from carrying or owning weapons.

Under federal law, individuals previously convicted of felony offenses or qualifying misdemeanor crimes are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms and ammunition. Because there is no parole in the federal court system, Thompson will be required to serve the majority of his sentence in a federal facility before becoming eligible for supervised release.

Following the announcement of Thompson’s sentencing, former colleagues in the entertainment industry publicly expressed support for the actor. Kyle Massey, who co-starred alongside Thompson on the Disney Channel sitcom “That’s So Raven,” spoke about the situation in an interview on Monday.

“Free Bobb’e J., man, that’s my brother,” Massey said. “We love you, we support you, we got your back, whatever you need, man, we’re gonna take care of you. It just always sucks to see one of your friends or someone that you love go through something hard like that. So we’re just gonna be rooting for him no matter what.”

Massey added: “Keep your head up, we’re here and we love you. We love you so much, bro. No matter what.”