Editing John Dillinger (section)

==Prison time==
[[File:John Dillinger 1924 Mugshot.jpg|thumb|right|250px|John Dillinger 1924 Mugshot]]
Incarcerated at [[Indiana Reformatory]] and [[Indiana State Prison]] between 1924 and 1933, Dillinger developed a criminal lifestyle. Upon being admitted to prison, he was quoted as saying, "I will be the meanest bastard you ever saw when I get out of here."<ref name=matera/> His physical examination at the prison showed that he had [[gonorrhea]], treatment of which at the time was painful.<ref name=matera/> He became resentful against society because of his long prison sentence and befriended other criminals, including seasoned bank robbers [[Harry Pierpont|Harry "Pete" Pierpont]], [[Charles Makley]], [[Russell Clark (criminal)|Russell Clark]] and [[Homer Van Meter]], who taught Dillinger how to be a successful criminal. The men planned heists that they would commit soon after they were released.<ref name=matera/>{{rp|32}} Dillinger also studied [[Herman Lamm]]'s meticulous bank-robbing system and used it extensively throughout his criminal career.<ref>Helmer, pp. 165–166</ref>

Dillinger's father began a public campaign to have him released and was able to obtain 188 signatures on a [[petition]]. On May 10, 1933, after serving nine and a half years, Dillinger was [[parole]]d.<ref name=matera/> Released at the height of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], Dillinger, with little prospect of finding employment,<ref name=matera/>{{rp|35}} immediately returned to crime.<ref name=matera/>{{rp|39}}

On June 21, 1933, Dillinger committed his first [[bank robbery]], stealing $10,000 ($241,000 in 2024) from a bank in [[New Carlisle, Ohio]].<ref name="DDN-1933-06-21">"Bandits Bind Cashier, Clerk and Assistant", ''Dayton Daily News'', June 21, 1933, pp, 1, 5.</ref> On August 14 he robbed a bank in [[Bluffton, Ohio]]. Tracked by police from [[Dayton, Ohio|Dayton]], he was captured and later transferred to [[Allen County, Ohio|Allen County]] jail in [[Lima, Ohio|Lima]] to be [[indictment|indicted]] in connection to the Bluffton robbery. After searching him before putting him into the prison, the police discovered a document which appeared to be a [[prison escape]] plan. They demanded Dillinger tell them what the document meant, but he refused.<ref name=fbi/>

Earlier, Dillinger had helped conceive a plan to enable the escape of Pierpont, Clark and six other prison acquaintances. He had friends smuggle guns into their cells, which they used to escape four days after Dillinger's capture. The group that formed up, known as "the First Dillinger Gang,” consisted of Pierpont, Clark, Makley, Ed Shouse, Harry Copeland and [[John Hamilton (gangster)|John "Red" Hamilton]], a member of the Herman Lamm Gang.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Pierpont, Clark and Makley arrived in Lima on October 12, 1933, where they impersonated [[Indiana State Police]] officers, claiming they had come to [[extradition|extradite]] Dillinger to Indiana. When the sheriff, Jess Sarber, asked for their credentials, Pierpont shot Sarber dead, then released Dillinger from his house. The four men escaped back to Indiana, where they joined the rest of the gang.<ref name=fbi/>