A man Stafford Police arrested for murder in March 2025 and released on a $600,000 bond now faces federal charges as the alleged ringleader of a nearly $24 million mail theft operation.
A federal grand jury indicted Tryston Tremaine Vaughn and four co-defendants on Aug. 19 in Case No. 4:26-cr-00542, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. Prosecutors allege Vaughn recruited three U.S. Postal Service carriers to steal checks from their Houston-area mail routes, then sold the checks through a Telegram channel called "slipsandchips." The scheme began on or about Oct. 6, 2022, and ran through at least Sept. 27, 2024, according to court filings, involving stolen checks totaling nearly $24 million.
Vaughn was taken into federal custody on the evening of Monday, Aug. 24, KPRC 2 reported. He had been free since May 2025, when he posted bond on the Stafford murder charge.
The Stafford murder case
Stafford Police arrested Vaughn in March 2025 for a fatal shooting at a motel parking lot off the Southwest Freeway in Stafford. According to police, surveillance images show Vaughn opening fire on a moving car. He allegedly went to the parking lot looking for someone he believed had stolen a $92,000 necklace.
The bullets missed the intended target. Kerry Thomas, 22, described by police as a bystander, was struck and killed. According to his obituary, Thomas moved to the Houston area with his family after Hurricane Katrina.
Vaughn also faces a theft-of-a-firearm charge that the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office said has not been formally filed and will be handled alongside the murder case. The murder case is pending in Fort Bend County.
"We are aware of the pending federal charges and have been working with the federal authorities. Both investigations have been careful not to compromise the other," a Fort Bend County DA's Office spokesperson told KPRC 2. The spokesperson said the murder charge and the federal mail charges are not related.
The federal scheme
The indictment names four co-defendants alongside Vaughn: postal carriers Catherine Clauzelle Kilpatrick, Drakkor Jamar Alexander and Malcolm Tiree Joubert, plus Alyssa Nadine Bryant, who prosecutors say worked with Vaughn to buy stolen checks from postal employees and resell them.
All five face conspiracy to commit bank fraud and multiple bank fraud counts. The three carriers also face charges of theft of mail matter by a postal employee. The scheme targeted accounts at Chase Bank, Amegy Bank, Citibank, BMO Bank and Stellar Bank.
In one instance cited in the indictment, Joubert allegedly stole a single check worth $1,517,875.27 from a BMO Bank account on May 15, 2024, while working as a USPS carrier in Houston, then sold it to Vaughn.
Kilpatrick, Joubert and Bryant were also arrested Monday, Aug. 24. Alexander had not been arrested as of that evening and remained wanted. Court records show Kilpatrick is expected to be released on an unsecured $50,000 bond.
The U.S. Postal Inspector declined to provide additional details, citing an ongoing investigation.
The charges are allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Anyone with information about the Stafford murder case can contact the Stafford Police Department at (281) 261-3950.
