Trevor Phillips is the break-out star of Grand Theft Auto 5 and one of the most popular characters in the franchise’s history. Reckless, spiteful, stubborn, contemptible, and murderous, Trevor is among the most beloved characters Rockstar has ever created.
Trevor’s rap sheet is one of the most impressive of any video game character. To calculate just how long Trevor would spend in prison means figuring out just how many murders, robberies, and other crimes and misdemeanors he committed, or could commit, across the main story of Grand Theft Auto 5.
Trevor's Murders
To start, fans can look at the canonical murders committed by Trevor in the story of Grand Theft Auto 5, and the murders which took place before the events of the story began. While players are free to kill as many people in the world of GTA 5 as they would like, these are the murders which can be ascribed to Trevor Phillips in the story.
First, Trevor mentions killing multiple people while growing up, including “drifters." Because there is no way to tell how many people Trevor killed in his early life, these killings will not be factored into the main calculation. However, there is one murder which Trevor commits before the events of GTA 5 that are more clearly defined: the murder of Bobcat Security guard Jaspers during the 2004 heist in North Yankton. This adds one count of first-degree murder to Trevor’s rap sheet.
The murders stack up quickly from there during the events of Grand Theft Auto 5. Trevor famously kills Johnny Klebitz, the protagonist of The Lost and Damned, as well as Terry Thorpe from the same game. This means Trevor now likely has 3 counts of first-degree murder on his rap sheet. Trevor’s killings of the O’Neil brothers for siding with the Triads adds eight more counts of first-degree murder, bringing it to 11 counts of murder.
Ortega of the Varrios Los Aztecas can be spared by Trevor, but if the player chooses to spare him, he will return to attack Trevor’s meth lab and end up dying then at a later point in the game. When Michael and Trevor take down Javier Madrazo’s helicopter, the pilot is killed in the crash, which is caused by Michael. However, Madrazo himself is then killed by Trevor. While it’s likely that Trevor could also be charged with the pilot’s death, this list will focus on the crimes clearly committed by Trevor, which brings the total to 13 counts of first-degree murder.
Leon, the manager of the Vanilla Unicorn strip club, is killed by Trevor and stuffed in a fridge that’s revealed in the mission Surveying the Score. Steven Haines and Devin Weston, the main antagonists of Grand Theft Auto 5, bring the total to 16 counts of first-degree murder assuming that the player chose to have Franklin team up with Michael and Trevor at the end of the game.
There are 10 optional murders which players can commit as Trevor or witness Trevor commit. These include the murders of Mark Fostenburg, Al Di Napoli, and Josh Bernstein during the Strangers and Freaks missions. Assuming the player didn’t kill commit any of the optional murders completing the Strangers and Freaks missions, the count is still increased by 2 with the non-optional killings of Joe and Josef, bringing the total to 18 counts of first-degree murder.
If Los Santos and by extension San Andreas use a fairly similar penal code to California, each one of these first-degree murders would carry a sentence of up to 25 years. This means that Trevor would face a sentence of up 450 years in prison for the murders he explicitly and canonicallt commits over the course of the events of Grand Theft Auto 5.
If Trevor was charged for every murder of a named character which the player could commit in the game, as well as implied murders like the death of Kush-Chronic, the count could be as high as 32 counts of first-degree murder, or up to 800 years in prison in California. Trevor has committed plenty of other crimes, but ruling out those he is involved with having the player commit in GTA Online can help narrow them down to the most story-relevant ones.
Trevor's Other Crimes
Trevor was involved in an armed robbery in North Yankton, kidnaps and participates in the torture of Mr K., attempts to deal drugs on Grove Street with GTA 5's Franklin and Lamar, steals two cars while disguised as a police officer – a crime in and of itself – commits a further robbery in the mission Blitz Play, infamously kidnaps Martin Madrazo’s wife, robs an armed car, a cargo plane, a Merryweather train, the Paleto Bank, robs Humane Labs and Research, and robs Union Depository.
Even ignoring all the other crimes committed along the way, and excluding optional or implied killings during the events of GTA 5, this brings the total to 18 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping, one count of torture, one count of drug-dealing, and one count of impersonating a police officer. Armed robbery carries a penalty of up to 9 years in state prison in California and therefore likely San Andreas, which could add 90 years to Trevor’s years for murder, bringing it to 540 years.
Two counts of kidnapping could add up to 8 years each, bringing the total to 548 years in prison. Kidnapping and drug-dealing charges could add another 30 years to Trevor’s sentence. Impersonating a police officer is a misdemeanor, adding up to another year to Trevor’s now 578-year sentence. Of course, this math is a little shaky and can’t account for player actions in the game. Trevor’s 579-year sentence is, somewhat confusingly, the minimum-maximum sentence he could incur, as it’s the maximum penalty for the fewest number of crimes the player can have the character commit in the game. It's likely, however, that no matter which GTA 5 ending the player chose, Trevor would likely prefer any fate to facing justice for his crimes.
Grand Theft Auto 5 will release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in the second half of 2021. It's currently available on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.