DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

A 10-Day Digital series from Oct. 23 to Nov. 1, 2024, the 100th anniversary of the end of the Ashley Gang

Part 4 of 10

The Boy Leader

Hanford Mobley
With his uncle John in prison, Hanford Mobley became leader of the Ashley Gang at just 17. STATE OF FLORIDA ARCHIVE

Hanford Mobley, who reveled in growing up in the shadow of his outlaw Uncle John, took over leadership of the gang at just 17

BY GREGORY ENNS

With John Ashley in prison and three of his brothers dead from their criminal activities, leadership of the Ashley Gang in 1922 fell to John’s 17-year-old nephew, Hanford Mobley.

Newspapers described him as the “boy leader’’ and “supposed leader of the Ashley Gang.” His prominence with the band of criminals once known simply as the Ashley Gang had led many newspapers to begin referring to the group as the Ashley-Mobley Gang. 

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