Nate Dogg’s College Football Playing Son Naijiel Arrested in Drug Sting
On Wednesday, a pair of Montana State defensive backs were arrested for allegedly dealing Xanax. Frankly, this would’ve gone past our radar, except that one of the DB’s that was arrested was junior cornerback Naijiel Hale, who just so happens to be the son of the late Nate Dogg.
Hale was subsequently charged with two counts of misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs, as well as the much more serious felony distribution of dangerous drugs. According to Whitney Bermes of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, back in February a confidential informant for the Missouri River Drug Task Force arranged to buy some Xanax from Hale. However, just prior to that meet going down, Hale told the informant to instead buy from his “brother,” which happened to be teammate Darren Gardenhire. From there the informant made the purchase at an apartment near campus, all while investigators watched.
After he was identified and apprehended, Gardenhire allegedly told agents that Hale, who is his roommate, was dealing but he wasn’t.
A second incident occurred later in the month after Hale allegedly arranged another deal at his home for multiple Xanax pills. Authorities say Hale was present for that deal, though he didn’t actually hand the pills to the undercover operative. Instead, another person handled the drugs.
Hale and Gardenhire were formerly teammates for the Washington Huskies. However, Hale was kicked off the team in 2015. Due to injury he only played in two games last season. He has been suspended indefinitely from the Montana State squad.
As for his legal problems, Hale’s bail was set at $25,000.
