Prison
On February 3, 1904, Eastman tried to rob a young man on 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan. As he was followed by two Pinkerton agents hired by the man's family to keep him out of trouble, the agents intervened. Eastman shot at them while escaping, but was caught by policemen responding to the shooting. Tired of bad publicity from Eastman, Tammany Hall refused to help him. Later that year, Eastman was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison at Sing Sing penitentiary.
In 1909, Eastman was released after serving five years in prison. During his absence, the Eastman Gang had split into several factions; one of his top men, Zwerbach, was dead. Since none of the surviving gang factions wanted Eastman as their leader, he was effectively out of power. For several years, Eastman reverted to petty thievery. During this period, he became addicted to opium and served several short jail terms.
Read more about this topic: Monk Eastman
Famous quotes containing the word prison:
“Whensoever any affliction assails me, me thinks I have the keyes of my prison in mine owne hand, and no remedy presents it selfe so soone to my heart, as mine own sword. Often meditation of this hath wonne me to a charitable interpretation of their action, who dy so: and provoked me a little to watch and exagitate their reasons, which pronounce so peremptory judgements upon them.”
—John Donne (c. 1572–1631)
“each prison crypt,
of canyoned traffic . . . Confronting the Exchange,
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“You ain’t got much, Stroud, but you keep subtracting from it.”
—Guy Trosper, U.S. screenwriter, and John Frankenheimer. Kramer, a prison guard (Crahan Denton)