Prisoners serving time at the nightmarish Eastern State Penitentiary were sentenced for all sorts of crimes from Murder, Assault & Battery, Burglary and Vagrancy. Individuals were often incarcerated for things that were illegal back then that have since been abolished. During Prohibition, one could be charged with the possession of alcohol, and/or Bootlegging, which was the transportation of alcohol. Another outlawed crime was Sodomy. This was a general charge used for people sentenced for their sexuality. Inside dark dim rooms, the most dreadful of people were kept, only given a toilet and a small heater. It was believed that constant solitary confinement was just the thing needed to reform such prisoners. Some made it out with their mind intact. The rest fell mentally ill.