Sam Fleisher
Brother and co-defendant of Harry Fleisher in a 1936 internal revenue conspiracy case from Detroit; held at Alcatraz as No. 327 from 1936 to 1937, and listed in a 1948 FBI Miami memorandum among men said to be members of the Detroit Purple Gang.
- Born
- 1908-04-28
- Died
- 1960-01-18
- Aliases
- Sam Fleish (1948 Miami memorandum)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records and the filed newspaper pages state. The identification photograph is a Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On the record
- 1935-06-11 — Alcatraz notebook page: arrested by police at Jackson, Michigan as a fugitive from justice and "released to Federal Authorities on present offense."
- 1936-04-15 — Alcatraz notebook page: offense "Int. Rev.-Consp.," dated April 15, 1936; sentence "8 years & $20,000 fine"; district "E/Michigan - Detroit"; co-defendant "Harry Fleisher (Subjects brother)." A red line reads "United States Attorney recommends parole when eligible."
- 1936-08-06 — Received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth as No. 327; stamped "Transferred to USP Leavenworth, March 18, 1937."
- 1948-04 — FBI Miami memorandum: "Sam Fleisher," alias Sam Fleish, is listed among those the Miami office was told were "presently members of the notorious DETROIT PURPLE GANG."
The birth date is the one on the Alcatraz page (4/28/08). The death date is from the National Archives catalog description of the page, which gives 18 January 1960 in Miami; it is catalog data, not an entry on the page. No role or family is set: the 1948 memorandum reports what the Miami office was told, and the Alcatraz committee’s remark that he was “allegedly one of the ‘Purple Gang’” is staff opinion.
Records
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Sam Fleisher, No. 327Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Sam Fleisher, No. 327, received at Alcatraz on 6 August 1936 on the same Detroit internal revenue conspiracy case as his brother Harry; transferred to Leavenworth 18 March 1937. A copy is stored here.
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Harry Fleisher, No. 320Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Harry Fleisher, No. 320, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 6 August 1936 on an internal revenue conspiracy conviction from Detroit; co-defendants Sam Fleisher, Joe Stein and Jack Selbin. A copy is stored here.
itemMiami office memorandum 'Detroit Purple Gang' (April 1948)An FBI office memorandum from the Special Agent in Charge at Miami to the Identification Division lists seven men, with aliases and police numbers, said 'according to information received by the Miami Office' to be 'presently members of the notorious DETROIT PURPLE GANG'.