A Richmond felon who tried to hide a firearm in the pants of his 6-year-old nephew was found guilty of being in possession of a gun, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Darneko Yates, 30, was pulled over by police in San Pablo in August 2023 for a vehicle infraction. Officers said he drove several blocks before stopping partially on the sidewalk at a relative’s house.

He was on parole for three felonies including carjacking, solicitation to commit murder and being in possession of a loaded firearm. As a felon, he is barred from having or being near any guns.

As a parolee, Yates was subject to searches, which police carried out on his person. In the backseat of Yates’ car were his nephew and niece. Though officers didn’t find anything on Yates, when his 6-year-old nephew got out of the car, he appeared to urge the child to go inside quickly. The child moved slowly and kept his back to the officers, prosecutors said.

“Using a child to conceal a loaded, fully automatic firearm shows an alarming disregard for their safety and well-being.” Dan Costin, FBI acting special agent in charge

When officers looked at the front of the child, they saw an object tucked into the front of his pants. It turned out to be a Glock firearm loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition. The gun had a “Glock switch” or “machinegun conversion device,” which allows a shooter to fire an endless stream of bullets with one pull of the trigger, prosecutors said.

Investigators learned Yates sent text messages telling someone to come get the nephew out of the car before the police searched the vehicle in which he admitted that the child had his gun on him.

“Using a child to conceal a loaded, fully automatic firearm shows an alarming disregard for their safety and well-being,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin in a statement released by the DOJ.

Yates was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and is facing a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 28, 2025.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.