Among the six men sentenced to prison in a large-scale investigation into the Tre-4 gang was Shurod Thompson, a man who 10 years ago seemed headed toward a career in the NFL.

These days, Thompson, 27, is in the Sierra Conservation Center prison at Jamestown, awaiting a release date scheduled for next month.

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But in 2016, 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.

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Fast forward to 2023, when prosecutors in Contra Costa charged Thompson and a co-defendant, Quinten Sheppard, in a 16-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 victims from banks and other places of business during a three-month robbery spree starting in November 2022.

Sheppard is an alleged member of the Tre-4 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 believed to be involved in other crimes, was given 12 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 2016, Thompson was slated to attend Oregon State, but it never happened. The Oregonian reported at the time Thompson was “widely rumored to have academic issues” but didn’t explain the sudden change. Thompson Tweeted at the time simply that it was “due to unfortunate circumstances.”