I've never heard of this particular "purple gang" so when I read the post title I thought it was talking about Detroit's Purple Gang and was thinking this guy must be a 100 years-old.
There is an interesting article somewhere about a guy in Detroit who, I think in the early 90s, would hang out at a deli near the old Tiger stadium and wait for the last living Purple Gang guy to come in. If I remember correctly it was one of the guys who had gone to jail forever, then was released as an old man, almost like an Alvin Karpis. Unfortunately the guy never got an interview with him, though he saw him a couple times.
Interesting the old Purple chose to live in the city, or at least hang out there, as it had changed almost completely since he'd been sentenced. I wish someone would write a longer piece about it or make a movie or something.
