Machine Gun Kelly
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George R. Kelly aka George "Machine Gun" Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 - July 18, 1954) was a notorious American gangster during the prohibition era. His crimes included bootlegging, armed robbery and kidnapping.
Born to a wealthy family living in Memphis, Tennessee, he flunked out of Mississippi State University, while pursuing a degree in agriculture, to pursue Geneva Ramsey, and then a life of crime. The couple married, had two children, but not wanting to rely on his family's money, struggled to make ends meet. His father was also not inclined to help George because of what had happened at Mississippi State, and his displeasure as to Geneva. Money strained the relationship, and the couple soon separated. This was during prohibition, and George found work with a bootlegger. After a short time, he had several run-ins with the local Memphis police, he decided to leave town and head west, with a new girlfriend.
To protect his family and escape law enforcement officers, he changed his name to George R. Kelly. He continued to commit smaller crimes and bootlegging. He was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for smuggling liquor onto an Indian Reservation in 1928, and sentenced for three years to Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas. Sent to Leavenworth on February 11, 1928, he was a model inmate and was released early.
His last crime activity proved disastrous when he kidnapped a wealthy Oklahoma City resident, Charles F. Urschel and his friend Walter R. Jarrett. Urschel, having been blindfolded, made sure to foil his kidnappers by noting all possible evidence of his experience such as carefully noting background sounds, counting footsteps and leaving fingerprints on every surface in reach. This in turn proved invaluable for the FBI in their investigation.
An investigation conducted at Memphis disclosed that the Kellys were living at the residence of J.C. Tichenor. Special Agents from Birmingham, Alabama, were immediately dispatched to Memphis, where, in the early morning hours of September 26, 1933, a raid was conducted. George and Kathryn Kelly were taken into custody by FBI Agents and Memphis police. Caught without a weapon, George Kelly supposedly cried, "Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't shoot, G-Men!" as he surrendered to FBI Agents. The term, which had applied to all federal investigators, became synonymous with FBI Agents. In actuality, George Kelly surrendered with the words "I give up, ya got me!" The "G-Men" phrase was made up by J. Edgar Hoover's P.R. agents. The couple was immediately removed to Oklahoma City.
On October 12, 1933, George and Kathryn Kelly were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Kelly died of a heart attack on his 59th birthday in Leavenworth.
At one point in his prison life he spent a short sentence in Alcatraz.
Kelly's famous nickname is in refernce to the Thompson submachine gun. It has been reported that his long-time girlfriend purchased Kelly a used tommy gun (a legal firearm at the time) from a pawn shop.
- Depression era gangsters (file info)
- Video clips of Depression era gangsters, including Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, and more (1920s).
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