The bank robbery that ended their freedom for a long stretch was the January 1958 robbery of the Bank of Columbia in Columbia, Alabama. John, Clarence, and their older brother Alfred robbed the bank together and were arrested five days later in Ohio. All three received substantial sentences. Alfred eventually went to Kilby State Prison in Alabama, where he was killed during his own escape attempt on January 11, 1964 — an Anglin family pattern that the criminal justice system had good reason to take seriously.
After Atlanta, John and Clarence were transferred to the Florida State Prison and then to the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, where their escape history escalated. At Leavenworth, Clarence reportedly attempted to have John smuggled out of the facility hidden in a bread box — a scheme discovered by a supervisor. The attempt demonstrated both their commitment to escape and their willingness to construct elaborate physical concealment systems. It also made the solution to their management straightforward: Alcatraz.
John arrived at Alcatraz on October 24, 1960, assigned AZ-1476. Clarence followed on January 16, 1961, as AZ-1485. They were placed in adjacent cells, which was either a consequence of institutional logic about housing brothers together or a failure of institutional awareness about what that proximity might enable.
### Allen West
Allen Clayton West was serving his second sentence at Alcatraz when the escape was being planned. A car thief originally from New York, West had been at Alcatraz before, was released, returned to crime, and came back. He had met Morris and the Anglins in Atlanta and arrived back at the Rock in time to be recruited — or to recruit himself — into the scheme.