Where is Crooks now? Mexican gang member arrested for trafficking drugs after 'Unlocked: A Jail Experiment'
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: Daniel Thorr Gatlin, AKA Crooks, was freed from Pulaski County Detention Facility following the Netflix show, 'Unlocked: A Jail Experiment'. He even expressed gratitude for the experiment in a video message, praising it and thanking Sheriff Eric Higgins for the chance he had provided to the people of H-Unit.
However, Crooks' legal troubles are far from over, as he was recently entangled in another case.
According to CBS 12, in the late hours of January 4, 2024, Crooks was apprehended in Florida’s Martin County. He was allegedly nabbed after attempting to sell several pounds of cocaine to undercover police agents.
The suspect is alleged to be a member of the Sureños gang, which is tied to the Mexican mafia. According to official accounts, Crooks informed investigators that he obtained the cocaine near the Mexican border.
Due to the large amount of narcotics seized on Crooks, detectives suspected he was more well-connected than typical street sellers. Given the nature of his offenses, it is expected that he will be sentenced to at least 25 years in jail after being captured, with no prospect of being bailed out.
Police also revealed that Crooks had specifically come to Martin County to provide cocaine to cops he thought to be clients.
"I hate Martin County bro, I told you guys I didn't want to come to Martin County, but I did, and I'm here," Crooks allegedly said to the undercover cop after arriving in the region via phone call. The police also believe he had additional narcotics stashed since he was subsequently discovered to have two more pounds of meth and a few grams of fentanyl at his residence on North West 16th Street in Stuart, Florida.
What was Unlocked: A Jail Experiment's Crooks charged for?
During the Netflix series, Daniel said that folks around him generally called him Crooks.
He hinted that this was due to "my teeth are kind of crooked a little bit. My smile’s a bit crooked. My eyebrows are a little crooked. One of my ears is higher than the other one. Just kind of stuck."
He publicly acknowledged being a crook who had previously cared nothing about anyone around him, even referring to himself as a "scumbag." He went on to say that he was a meth addict who had been dealing the drug since the age of 13.
Crooks said that the majority of the criminals around him were motivated by a terrible occurrence in their past. He stated that when he was nine years old, he lost his father in a vehicle accident.
"I guess he was drinking. He was racing somebody down the street. You know how you pull up, hit your engine? They’re racing, and he was drunk and hit a telephone pole." Crooks explained, blaming everyone around him and God for the catastrophe.
As a result, he seemed to have begun using narcotics but resolved to abstain when detained.
Crooks was hopeful of Sheriff Eric Higgins's 'Unlocked: A Jail Experiment'
Crooks agreed with the sheriff's approach. At the time of his introduction to the show, he had been sober for three months and was confident that this would help him stay clean in the future.
He also stated that the experiment had helped him understand that he could live a "normal" life and carve a path for himself that did not require him to constantly glance behind his back and worry about getting apprehended by the authorities.
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment's Crooks wished to enroll in rehab
Crooks made excellent use of the experiment's free phone calls and told his mother that he wanted to mend his ways. His mother had appeared relieved at the possibility.
Crooks also expressed a wish to attend a rehabilitation clinic to cope with his addiction. During the final stages of the experiment, Crooks was visited by his sister Juanita, who noted that he appeared to have changed in a favorable way since the experiment began.
'Unlocked: A Jail Experiment' is available for streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
