Dewitt Dawson
September 10, 1997
Dawson, once the crime ''Kingpin of North Alabama'' and leader of the notorious Dawson Gang, died Saturday of a heart attack in Leighton, Ala. He was 58. Dawson was accused of running a crime ring known as the Dawson Gang that began operating in north Alabama, northeast Mississippi and southwest Tennessee during the 1960s. Dawson spent a total of 16 years in prison for bootlegging, bank robbery, income-tax evasion and counterfeiting. He was linked to illegal gambling operations and accused of planning several bank robberies, although he was convicted of only one bank robbery.