Former East Bay high school football star sent to prison in gang robbery spree

Among the six men sentenced to prison in a large-scale inquiry into the Tre- gang was Shurod Thompson a man who years ago seemed headed toward a career in the NFL These days Thompson is in the Sierra Conservation Center prison at Jamestown awaiting a release date scheduled for next month But in Thompson was the country s eighth-highest rated high school safety after playing football for Pittsburg High and Brentwood s Liberty High Upon graduation he had offers to play for a half-dozen colleges including UC Berkeley Fast forward to when prosecutors in Contra Costa charged Thompson and a co-defendant Quinten Sheppard in a -count criminal complaint accusing the two of committing street robberies over several months and following the same modus operandi The two allegedly stole license plates led police on chases and followed casualties from banks and other places of business during a three-month robbery spree starting in November Sheppard is an alleged member of the Tre- gang a San Francisco-based group that has been linked to shootings robberies and other violence throughout the Bay Area Thompson is not a member according to police In the end Thompson fared much better than his co-defendant Sheppard who was inferred to be involved in other crimes was given years in prison through a plea deal finalized in December Thompson received a prison term of four years and eight months after pleading no contest to robbery records show In Thompson was slated to attend Oregon State but it never happened The Oregonian communicated at the time Thompson was widely rumored to have academic issues but didn t explain the sudden change Thompson Tweeted at the time absolutely that it was due to unfortunate circumstances