Former Disney Channel child star Bobb’e J. Thompson has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after a routine traffic stop turned up a loaded stolen handgun — adding another dramatic chapter to the actor’s troubles with the law.
Thompson, 30, who played the mischievous Stanley on That’s So Raven, was sentenced Sept. 16 in Sioux City, Iowa, after previously pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, the case began with a high-speed traffic stop on Sept. 22, 2025.
Authorities said Thompson was behind the wheel of a vehicle traveling 104 mph in a 70-mph zone in Cerro Gordo County.
But prosecutors said the traffic stop quickly became far more serious.
As an officer approached the vehicle, authorities said Thompson and his passenger were seen switching seats. Officers also reported smelling marijuana coming from inside the car.
A subsequent search uncovered a backpack belonging to Thompson containing multiple bags of dispensary-bought marijuana and a .40-caliber handgun, according to federal prosecutors.
The weapon was fully loaded with a 15-round magazine and had another round in the chamber. Investigators determined the gun had previously been reported stolen from a vehicle in Kansas City, Missouri.
Thompson was indicted by a federal grand jury in January and pleaded guilty on April 28, 2026, according to court and Justice Department records.
U.S. District Judge Leonard T. Strand ultimately handed Thompson a 30-month federal prison sentence.
The judgment also states that the sentence will run consecutively to any prison time Thompson may receive in pending criminal cases in Washington and Missouri, according to USA Today’s review of the federal court records.
Strand recommended that Thompson be placed at a federal facility in Oklahoma, Illinois or Kansas — or another Bureau of Prisons facility located as close to his family as possible.
Federal prosecutors also said Thompson will face supervised release after leaving prison. The Justice Department’s Sept. 16 announcement lists that term as three years, although USA Today reported that the judgment it reviewed listed two years.
Thompson is currently being held in U.S. Marshals Service custody while awaiting transfer to a federal prison. Unlike many state systems, the federal prison system does not offer traditional parole.
The conviction was not Thompson’s first serious run-in with the law.
Federal prosecutors said his criminal history includes 2020 Los Angeles convictions for battery causing serious bodily injury and assault with force, as well as a 2022 conviction for prohibited firearm possession. Those earlier convictions meant Thompson was legally barred from possessing the gun found during the Iowa traffic stop.
The case was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Timmons.
For longtime television viewers, Thompson’s prison sentence marks a startling turn for an actor who began appearing on television when he was just a child.
He made an early appearance on My Wife and Kids in 2002 before landing a regular role as Jimmy Mitchell, the son of Tracy Morgan’s character, on NBC’s The Tracy Morgan Show.
Thompson later became familiar to Disney Channel viewers as Stanley on That’s So Raven and reprised the character on the spinoff Cory in the House.
He also played Tracy Jr., the son of Tracy Morgan’s character on 30 Rock, and built a movie résumé that included Fred Claus, Role Models and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Thompson later became a recurring performer on Nick Cannon’s Wild ’N Out.
His more recent credits include the 2026 film The Funny Thing About Love.
For Thompson, however, the immediate future is now outside Hollywood. He remains in federal custody and will be transferred to a Bureau of Prisons facility to begin serving his 30-month sentence.
Real Deal Team