DELANO — Kristopher Thomas has been in prison since 2010, when he was sentenced to 50 years to life for killing a man who identified himself as a member of a rival Los Angeles Crip gang, according to court records.
Despite being locked away in Kern Valley State Prison, federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Thomas was able to control methamphetamine distribution not just in California but Hawaii, Oklahoma, Alabama and New Jersey. When the DEA launched a federal investigation in 2022, agents were able to identify the first of seven contraband cellphones Thomas allegedly possessed over the next several months, and secured wiretaps for six of them, court records show.
These details, publicized in recent federal court filings, are the latest demonstration of how incarcerated California gangsters have been able to wield control of criminal activities in the free world, even after receiving sentences that make their own freedom a remote possibility.
In 2024, DEA agents and former associates of the Aryan Brotherhood laid out in stunning detail how the all-white prison gang was able to control multi-state methamphetamine and heroin rings from inside prisons across California. Earlier this year, four Nuestra Familia members were convicted of racketeering after a trial that spelled out how the Northern California-based prison gang kept meticulous records inside prison of drug debts owed by different “regiments.” The groups were required to pay dues that were handled and re-distributed by an incarcerated gang accountant.
In this case, Thomas was able to arrange drug deals out of state, organize smuggling inside Kern Valley State Prison, and arrange for large drug debts to be collected, according to federal prosecutors. Thomas’ reputation as a gang member was well-established when, in 2009, he shot and killed Dequawn Allen in Los Angeles, simply because Allen answered Thomas’ question about his own gang membership. Allen was part of the 94 Hoover Crips and Thomas was a Main Street Mafia Crip member, according to court records.
In August 2022, the DEA wiretapped a call between Thomas an another MSMC member, Justin Mitchell, allegedly about a $35,000 drug debt that Mitchell hadn’t paid.
“Time’s up,” Thomas allegedly told him, before sending a woman to collect thousands in cash and money orders from Mitchell later that day. He then seemed upset that only $28,000 was delivered, according to court filings.
Thomas, Mitchell, a Westside Bakersfield Crip named Derrick Charles, and a woman named Natasha Bailey, were all indicted on federal drug distribution and conspiracy charges last year. Mitchell pleaded guilty with no agreement in place, while Bailey has repeatedly scheduled and postponed a change-of-plea hearing that centers on her allegedly conspiring to bring a half-pound of fentanyl into the prison.
Bailey allegedly had an in-person visit with Nathaniel Flowers, a Geer Gang Crip who lived in a cell near Thomas, just before Flowers was caught with a half-pound of fentanyl, according to prosecutors. They believe that Bailey smuggled it in a pelvic cavity and passed it to Flowers, but Bailey hasn’t acknowledged she was the actual smuggler, and authorities said in court filings they’re still working to disprove a “potential counterclaim” that she passed the fentanyl to another person who smuggled it in and gave it to Flowers.
The charges against Charles and Thomas are still pending. Flowers wasn’t part of the indictment, court records show.
Perhaps the most telling detail in the prosecution’s case: Simply by wiretapping Thomas’ phones and interviewing one of his associates, the DEA was able to seize 144 pounds of methamphetamine in two separate crackdowns, in Alabama, Oklahoma, and on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, according to court records. In wiretapped phone calls, Thomas appeared to take an interest in the minutiae of drug sales, discussing profit margins, how to vacuum seal bags for shipments, and how to properly prepare prison contraband in plastic wrap and electrical tape before it can be smuggled in.
“I said, ‘There ain’t no way you buying them for 1,800 and selling them for 125 on the (ounce),’” Thomas allegedly told another person, recounting a conversation with a methamphetamine dealer. “You think we believe that?”