During its years as a military prison, the inmates at Alcatraz included Confederate sympathizers and citizens accused of treason during the American Civil War (1861-65).
- Joe Mcgasko
- Inmate #85: Al 'Scarface' Capone. Conviction: Tax evasion. Time Served at Alcatraz: 5 years (1934–1939) Post-Term: mental illness, death from syphilis. By the time Al Capone arrived at Alcatraz on the morning of August 22, 1934, he was past his peak as a crime kingpin.
- Inmate #110: Roy Gardner. Conviction: Armed robbery. Time Served at Alcatraz: 2 years (1934–1936) Post-Term: author, suicide. Alcatraz was repurposed by the federal government from a military prison to a general federal prison in 1933 expressly to deal with criminals like Roy G. Gardner, the man who was nicknamed “King of the Escape Artists.”
- Inmate #117: George 'Machine Gun' Kelly. Conviction: Kidnapping. Time Served at Alcatraz: 17 years (1934–1951) Post-Term: died of a heart attack in jail. It couldn’t be said that many of the criminals who ended up in Alcatraz were from good families, but Machine Gun Kelly was raised in a well-off Memphis household and even attended some college.
- Inmate #325: Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis. Conviction: Kidnapping. Time Served at Alcatraz: 26 years (1936–1962) Post-Term: author, pill overdose. Like "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin Francis Karpowicz saw kidnapping as an easier way to make large sums of money than bank robbing.
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This is a list of notable inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.An inmate register reveals that there was 1576 prisoners in total which were held at Alcatraz during its time as a Federal Penitentiary, between 1934 to 1963, although figures reported have varied and some have stated 1557.
While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the 1,576 prisoners incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks.
Alcatraz housed close to 260-275 inmates at a time although it had a capacity of 336 inmates. Some of the more well-known and rather infamous inmates at Alcatraz were Al Capone (Scarface), George Kelly (Machine Gun), Alvin Karpowicz (Crazy Kelly), Robert Stroud (Birdman), Roy Gardner, Henri Young, James Bulger and Mickey Cohen.
Most of the prisoners were notorious bank robbers, counterfeiters, murderers, or sodomites. Among the first inmates were also 14 men from McNeil Island, Washington. On 22 August 43 prisoners arrived from Atlanta Penitentiary and 10 from North Eastern Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
- 312
- 11 August 1934; 86 years ago
- 21 March 1963; 57 years ago
- San Francisco Bay, California
From 1934 to 1963 it served as a federal prison for some of the most dangerous civilian prisoners. Among its famous denizens were Al Capone, George (“Machine Gun”) Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz” (the subject of the 1962 film of the same name).
Welcome to Alcatraz History Alcatraz History was designed to help introduce you to the rich history of Alcatraz during the penitentiary years and many of the convicts who called “the Rock” home. From the 1934 until 1963, Alcatraz was America's premier maximum-security prison, the final stop for the nation's most incorrigible prisoners.
Sep 29, 2017 · First on the list is the first film that was shot on the island after the prison closed. When this movie was released in 1967, Alcatraz was still very much a national talking point. Despite this, the film wasn’t too successful at the box office – but it has since achieved something of a cult status among film enthusiasts.
Mar 18, 2020 · In general, Alcatraz was a peaceful place. But it was a prison, so obviously there were some exceptions. In addition to six men shot during escape attempts, eight people were murdered by inmates. But considering how dangerous the guys inside were, and the fact that Alcatraz was open for 29 years, that's not as bad as one might expect.