Johnny Hope

Who was Johnny Hope?

John "Johnny" Hope was a 19th-century American burglar, bank robber and pickpocket. The son of James "Old Jimmy" Hope, he was alleged to have been associated with his father and the George Leslie Gang. He was among those arrested for the 1878 robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institution although he and Billy Kelly were the only men actually sent to prison for this crime.

There was some controversy over his imprisonment at the time, in which a two-year court battle was fought, and ultimately saw him sent to Sing Sing for 20 years. Doubts over his guilt, however, would eventually result in his receiving a pardon from New York Governor David B. Hill in 1890.