California pimp allegedly used prostitutes to sell guns to criminals

Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News on Nov 20, 2025

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OAKLAND, Calif. — A Hayward man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for operating a gun trafficking ring that prosecutors say relied on a woman he was pimping to purchase guns for him to re-sell to criminals.

Najee Thompson, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, ending a case that ran into a snag when Thompson was arrested in Oklahoma less than a month after pleading guilty to dealing firearms without a license. Prosecutors allege that Thompson — a man with two pimping-related convictions — would meet women on dating websites, woo them romantically, the convince them to become “straw purchasers” to buy guns.

“In some cases, he would proposition them to come to California to ‘work’ for him as prostitutes,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo, citing an example where a woman traveled from Arizona to California “to work as a prostitute for (Thompson)” after buying guns for him. When she decided to stop buying guns for him, he allegedly threatened her.

Furthermore, prosecutors argued Thompson caused “significant harm” by selling dozens of guns that were later recovered in criminal investigations. Authorities determined the guns he sold were “often used to commit violent felonies, such as gunpoint robberies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Kleinman wrote in the sentencing memo.

Thompson’s lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender John Paul Reichmuth, argued that Thompson grew up in an abusive household and that “the offenses in this case were completely intertwined with Mr. Thompson’s cocaine dependency,” because he needed money to feed his addiction. The defense sentencing memo includes several support letters from family members, including his “favorite sister” who described him as a “devoted father.”

“What I’ve always seen in him is someone who tries, even when life hasn’t been easy or he’s made mistakes. He’s not a bad person — he’s someone who’s made some bad choices,” the letter says. “But I’ve also seen the side of him that takes accountability, that wants to change, and that genuinely cares about doing better for his kids and our family.”

While awaiting sentencing in this case, Thompson was arrested in Oklahoma City during a traffic stop where police allegedly found a gun in his car. He “appeared to be pimping out” one of the women he was with, federal prosecutors said in court filings. Records in Oklahoma say he was charged with conspiracy, drug trafficking, sexual assault, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The case is still pending.