My grandfather [[Crawford-1902|Charles Crawford]] (1916-1987) was sentenced to the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, MD for 6 months on 29 Dec 1949 for neglect of 9 children & wife. On 23 October 1951, he and two others robbed a Delmar, DE liquor store at gun point; they were caught and sentenced to 10-years (the driver--Charles) and 15-years (the robbers--George Washington Moore & Elwood Willing). I believe Charles, George and Elwood became friends while in Jessup. The three of them, along with a 4th man, attempted to escape 5 days after being sentenced, then successfully tried again 4 months later...all recaptured after a week.
The linkage is important because prior to the initial jail sentence Charles, although a lazy slacker, wasn't a felonious guy; in fact the Baltimore City Councilman Leon Abramson was actively following the family's plight and sponsored a resolution/legislation about welfare reform in their name. I'm following that, but I want to understand if the neglect sentence initiated a worse turn for the family.
