Hard Time: The Life of an Incorrigible on Alcatraz

The true story of Charlie Hopkins #1186, one of the last surviving inmates of Alcatraz Penitentiary

“My friend and fellow alumni Charlie Hopkins and I both graduated from America’s Top Crime School…. Charlie was a better student than I…. He’s still free!” (James “Whitey” Bulger, #1428 AZ)

What if one could travel back in time and interview one of the hardened criminals that had served time at Alcatraz Penitentiary before it was permanently closed in 1963? What exactly would one ask a man who had rubbed shoulders with some of the most notorious gangsters, murderers, and thieves of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s? How would the conversation go when speaking to a close friend of “Creepy” Al Karpis, the “Birdman of Alcatraz” Robert Stroud, and Whitey Bulger? Now, thanks to author Don DeNevi, for the first time one does not need a time machine to recapture the first-hand eyewitness accounts of one man’s life on Alcatraz.

Alcatraz inmate #1186 was Charles Edward Hopkins, and Mr. Hopkins was no ordinary inmate. Not only did he serve time with the Anglin brothers who made the only successful escape from Alcatraz, but he was well-acquainted with notorious crime boss “Bumpy” Johnson, the legendary Italian mafia boss Vito Genevese, and many other infamous Alcatraz inmates.

Early in his prison career, Charlie was clinically pronounced “psychotic” and “incorrigible” and was sent to Alcatraz. After serving his time, Hopkins disappeared into history before re-emerging in recent years as the pen pal of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Never before has Charlie’s full story been captured and shared with the public. Now at 87 years old, Mr. Hopkins is estimated to be one of the last five or six remaining inmates that served hard time in Alcatraz before its closing in 1963. No matter what you have heard or think you know about Alcatraz, you may be certain of one thing, you have never heard a story like this.