Gary Stephen Krist

Gary Stephen Krist (born April 29, 1945) is an American convicted of being a career criminal in the trafficking of illegal aliens.

He was born in Pelican, Alaska, on April 29, 1945. He lived part of his childhood in Utah. His first recorded crime was a string of robberies at the age of 14, in 1959. He escaped from a California State Prison in November 1966, while serving a sentence for Automobile theft.

He is most well known for kidnapping and burying heiress Barbara Jane Mackle alive in a ventilated box in 1968. After receiving $500,000 in ransom money, he was captured and sentenced to life in prison.

While imprisoned, Krist wrote a book, Life: The Man Who Kidnapped Barbara Jane Mackle, published in 1972 (ISBN 0-7004-0100-8).

Krist was paroled after serving 10 years and granted a pardon so that he could become a physician. He practiced medicine in Chrisney, Indiana, until his medical license was revoked in 2003. This was a result of not disclosing a disciplinary action he had received during his medical residency.

Krist chartered a boat to South America in January 2006. When he returned on March 6, 2006, authorities were waiting for him and discovered four illegal aliens, who paid $6,000 each to come to the United States, and 14 kilograms of cocaine in paste form valued at around US$1 million. He was arrested in Point Clear, Alabama, for conspiracy to bring cocaine and illegal aliens into the United States. It was also discovered that he was running a cocaine operation in Barrow County, Georgia. On May 16, 2006, Krist pleaded guilty to drug smuggling; and, on January 19, 2007, he was sentenced to five years and five months in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, Florida. He was released from prison in November 2010.

On August 27, 2012, in Mobile, Alabama, U.S. District Judge Callie Virginia Granade revoked Krist's supervised release for violating his probation. He had left the country without permission, sailing to Cuba and South America on his sailboat. Judge Granade sentenced Krist to 40 months imprisonment.