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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; On his way out of the Luzerne County Courthouse on Wednesday, convicted murderer Tevon &#8220;Mulah&#8221; Thomas took the opportunity to speak to his family through a reporter.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll be home soon, you heard?&#8221; he said while led out by deputies.</p><p>But unless the Wilkes-Barre man has a successful appeal in the future, he&#8217;s not going home again &#8212; he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Irvando &#8220;Yardie&#8221; Crooks. And decades were tacked on to that life sentence for other crimes.</p><p>Thomas, 25, was found guilty in January after eight hours of jury deliberation on a count of first-degree murder and a count of conspiracy to commit murder.</p><p>Police say Thomas, along with another Wilkes-Barre man, Keanu &#8220;Preky&#8221; Pinnock, 20, killed Crooks on Sept. 2, 2016, after a dispute over drugs they were selling.</p><p>Prosecutors painted Crooks as the ringleader of a cocaine enterprise, with Thomas and Pinnock as two of his underlings.</p><p>Thomas maintained his innocence throughout the course of the trial, and again during his sentencing.</p><p>&#8220;I send my condolences to the family of Irvando Crooks,&#8221; Thomas said when invited by Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. to address the court. &#8220;I know what took place is tragic&#8230; I&#8217;m sorry for what happened, but I&#8217;m going to continue to presume my innocence.&#8221;</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Tony Ross jumped on this, saying it was just another example of Thomas shirking responsibility for his crimes.</p><p>&#8220;We ask the court to recognize the profound effect this crime has had on our community; we respectfully ask the court to send a message that this will not be tolerated,&#8221; Ross said while asking Sklarosky to impose the maximum possible term.</p><p>Thomas&#8217; first-degree murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole, but the conspiracy count could have allowed for more leniency, carrying a maximum possible sentence of 20 to 40 years. Ross was asking for that maximum sentence to be served after the completion of the life term.</p><p>Thomas&#8217; attorney, Joseph Price, instead asked for the two counts to be run concurrently.</p><p>After testimony from Crooks&#8217; mother, Carleen Bennett, in which she mentioned being &#8220;hurt&#8221; by seeing her son&#8217;s killer &#8220;smiling and laughing&#8221; in court that day, Sklarosky issued his sentence.</p><p>In addition to the mandatory life term, Thomas was also sentenced to between 15 and 30 years in prison. Those sentences are to be served consecutively, or one after the other.</p><p>An additional nine to 24 months were added to the sentence, to be served at the same time as the other two, for two counts of access device fraud to which Thomas pleaded guilty Wednesday.</p><p>Thomas was also ordered to jointly cover over $27,000 in restitution with Pinnock &#8212; some of which will cover expenses from Crooks&#8217; funeral.</p><p>Much like after his conviction, Thomas&#8217; family was unhappy following the sentence. And the dead man&#8217;s mother once again claimed that justice was not served &#8212; especially since Pinnock, who took a deal to plead guilty and testify against Thomas, got only 12 to 24 years.</p><p>But prosecutor Ross said he was &#8220;satisfied&#8221; with the punishment handed down.</p><p>&#8220;We feel it&#8217;s illustrative of the effects the scourge of drugs has on our community,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Defense attorney Price, meanwhile, hinted at appealing, saying he would continue to protect Thomas&#8217; rights. He also said he believes the mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder should be &#8220;looked at&#8221; by the state Legislature.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tevon Thomas, who was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday without the possibility of parole, told a reporter on his way out of the Luzerne County Courthouse, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be home soon, you heard?&#8221; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_thomas-1-1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tevon Thomas, who was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday without the possibility of parole, told a reporter on his way out of the Luzerne County Courthouse, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be home soon, you heard?&#8221; </caption0><photoCredit0>Patrick Kernan | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Murderer gets life, defiantly maintains innocence: ‘I’ll be home soon’