He served the majority of that sentence at Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay, California as inmate No. 1117, and was released in 1963 on parole.
Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson
Johnson came to Alcatraz in 1952, at the height of his reign as the so-called “Godfather of Harlem,” after he was sentenced to a 15-year stint for a drug conspiracy conviction. Johnson served the majority of that sentence at Alcatraz, before being released on parole in 1963.
Its eventual inmates included dangerous public enemies like Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, criminals who had a history of escapes, and the occasional odd character like the infamous “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
Perhaps the most famous of all Alcatraz inmates is Robert Stroud, often remembered for his portrayal in the 1962 movie "Birdman of Alcatraz". He was convicted of murder in 1909 after shooting a man at point-blank range. The victim was reportedly a client of a prostitute Stroud was pimping and had refused to pay her.
While awaiting the results of appeals, Capone was confined to the Cook County Jail. Upon denial of appeals, he entered the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, serving his sentence there and at Alcatraz.
Alvin Karpis
Edgar Hoover himself and sentenced to life imprisonment at Alcatraz for ten murders, six kidnappings, and a robbery. He was the last of the depression-era criminals to be caught and served the longest sentence, 26 years, of any Alcatraz prisoner.
A fourth man, Allen West, who also participated in the escape plot, was serving his second term at the Rock. Left behind on the night of the escape, West later told the authorities much of what is now known about the complicated scheme, and even claimed to have been the mastermind himself.
5 Torture. Punishment at Alcatraz was extreme. At the dungeon, prisoners were chained up standing in total darkness, often with no food and regular beatings. These punishments often lasted for as long as 14 days and by 1942, the dungeon was found to be unnecessarily cruel and closed.
It's a living site that continues to tell stories," said National Park ranger Christian Davis. Bill Baker is part of that living history. He was Alcatraz prisoner number 1259. He is now 89 years old and one of the last surviving former inmates of Alcatraz.
The prison officially closed down because it was too expensive to maintain. It would have required about $3 million to $5 million for further maintenance and restoration work to keep it open. This was not even taking into account the operating costs that were required daily.
"Alcatraz was never no good for nobody..." Frank Weatherman seen above and left, he was the last inmate to be transferred to Alcatraz, and the last inmate to walk down the gangway and leave the island. An officer holding a calendar showing the last day of operations, March 21, 1963.
The three men in question are convicted bank robber Frank Morris, John Anglin and his brother Clarence Anglin. On June 11, 1962, the trio successfully escaped the maximum security prison after posing fake heads in their beds that were pushed through holes of a concrete wall.
The 1962 escape is probably the most famous prison break in American history, and the three men involved have never been located, dead or alive.
Television. In an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, it is reported that Johnson allegedly helped the three escapees of Alcatraz get to the shores of San Francisco. It is said that he arranged for a boat to pick the three men up out of the bay.
Clarence Victor Carnes (January 14, 1927 – October 3, 1988), known as The Choctaw Kid, was a Choctaw man best known as the youngest inmate incarcerated at Alcatraz and for his participation in the bloody escape attempt known as the "Battle of Alcatraz".
Lucas would later become a protégé of sorts to Harlem mob boss Bumpy Johnson, who died of a heart attack in 1968. Lucas then took over as Harlem's drug kingpin and fronted what became one of America's biggest heroin empires.
How many people died while at Alcatraz? There were eight people murdered by inmates on Alcatraz. Five men committed suicide, and fifteen died from natural illnesses. The Island also boasted it's own morgue but no autopsies were performed there.
Assuming any of them survived the currents in the San Francisco Bay while fleeing the Rock (and that they also survived the intervening 60 years), all the men would be into their 90s.
Warden Edwin James was chief warden of The Rock up to 1963, after which his fate is unknown. According to Diego Soto he died many years before the present day, but Hauser asks Officer Donovan about whether James is back, which may mean his death was also fabricated.
Eventually, they killed the three remaining men, Cretzer, Hubbard and Coy, the ringleader. Two prison guards were killed in the battle, with 14 more wounded. Two of the prisoners who gave up after the lock to the yard door was broken, Shockley and Thompson, were executed in a gas chamber for their role in the attempt.
In terms of prisons, Alcatraz was no more brutal than most other prisons—in some ways, less so. The guards had minimal interactions with prisoners unless a prisoner acted out. That earned them time in the hole or solitary confinement where they only had a drain as a toilet and nothing else.
It was a leading recreational activity. Inmates had access to a library of 15,000 books and 75 popular magazines subscriptions. They could do artwork, write letters, and play stringed instruments in their cells. There was even an inmate band.
Frank Morris, John Anglin, and his brother, Clarence Anglin have never been located since escaping the facility — which was at some point home to criminals like Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and Robert Stroud.
The decoy heads reside in the park archives of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This case, and many other stories related to Alcatraz, receive a lot of interest from researchers from around the country.
Frank passed away in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria under another name.