Gang member, pimp sentenced

King County Superior Court Judge Helen Halpert didn't mince words when she sentenced an admitted pimp and gang member to 5 ½ years in prison on Friday.

"I want you to think about your little girls, think about somebody pimping out your daughters. That's what you did to someone else's babies," Halpert told Thomas Foster, 20, a father of two who has admitted pimping out his daughters' mother and another young woman.

Foster, who pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree promoting prostitution, second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit promoting prostitution, is the third member of West Side Street Mobb, a West Seattle criminal street gang, to be sentenced on prostitution charges.

Two others also have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing, while a sixth man, Deshawn Clark, is on trial for a variety of prostitution-related offenses.

King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sean O'Donnell requested a five-year sentence for Foster, but the judge added an additional six months because within days of entering his guilty plea in August, Foster wrote to a prostitute from jail.

The letter, read aloud in court by O'Donnell, directed the woman to post online photos of Foster's fiancée so she could continue prostituting.

Foster's letter, O'Donnell said, ended with a postscript: "Pimps R Us."

"I can't ignore this letter," Halpert said, noting that it "did sound like he was still encouraging acts of prostitution" from jail.

The judge also chastised Foster's mother, sister and friends — including three prostitutes named as victims in the criminal cases against Foster and his co-defendants — who had showed up in court to speak on Foster's behalf.

The mother of Foster's children claimed she had lied in her statements to police and that Foster had never pimped her out. Foster's mother, Katherine Fair, railed against the woman testifying against Clark and said her son is the victim of overzealous prosecutors. She said her son only pleaded guilty to avoid being charged in federal court.

Foster "is a good child — he's been raised right," Fair said. "If he's promoting, where's the money at? Where's it going?"

Another victim-prostitute, who said Foster is like an older brother, said: "All these things they're saying about him is not true."

Halpert said she was concerned about the family members' attitudes.

"He pleaded guilty to prostitution, and his family needs to be more realistic," the judge said.

Halpert also warned Foster that his conviction counts as his second strike — and a third strike will mean life behind bars.

"You don't have any wiggle room here," she warned.

Because Foster's guilty plea included gang aggravators, the judge was able to impose a sentence above the standard maximum of 4 ½ years in prison. The 5 ½ year sentence means Foster will spend more time behind bars than the two other gang members who already have been sentenced: Mycah Johnson received 21 months; Gerald Jackson, 3 ½ years.

The judge also ordered Foster not to have any contact with his victims, including his fiancée, other witnesses or his co-defendants for 10 years.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com