Criminal Career
Gerald Chapman was born George Chartres in August 1887 to parents of Irish heritage. Arrested for the first time in 1902 at age fourteen, Chapman was incarcerated for the majority of his early adult life. After being convicted on a bank robbery charge and transferred from Sing Sing, he first became acquainted with Anderson while imprisoned in Auburn State Prison in 1908. Following both men's paroles in 1919, they began bootlegging operations in Toledo, Miami and New York City over the next two years.
In late 1921, along with former Auburn inmate Charles Loeber, Chapman and Anderson began committing armed robberies. On October 24, the three men forced a U.S. Mail truck to stop at gunpoint on Leonard Street, successfully taking $2.4 million in cash, bonds and jewelry. Eluding capture for more than eight months, the three were eventually arrested by New York police on July 3, 1922, after being betrayed by a police informant. Chapman and Anderson were both sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment and ordered to serve their time at the Atlanta Federal Prison. Chapman escaped from prison on March 27, 1923, and Anderson escaped on December 30, 1923. They reunited, and were suspected by authorities to have committed several hold-ups.
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