Editing Lead Belly (section)

=== Legal issues ===
[[File:Huddie William Ledbetter in July 1934, from- Angola Prison -- Leadbelly in the foreground (cropped).jpg|alt=|thumb|right|Lead Belly inside the Angola Prison, July 1934]]
Lead Belly was imprisoned multiple times beginning in 1915, when he was convicted of carrying a pistol and sentenced to time on the Harrison County [[chain gang]]. He later escaped and found work in nearby [[Bowie County, Texas|Bowie County]] under the assumed name of Walter Boyd.

In January 1918, he was imprisoned at the Imperial Farm (now [[Central Unit]])<ref name="Perkinson184">Perkinson, Robert (2010). ''Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire''. [[Metropolitan Books]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&dq=Lead+Belly+%22Imperial+Farm%22&pg=PA184 184]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.</ref> in [[Sugar Land, Texas]], after being convicted of killing a relative, Will Stafford. In 1925, he was pardoned and released after writing a song to Texas Governor [[Pat Morris Neff]] seeking his freedom, having served the minimum seven years of a 7-to-35-year sentence. He was credited with good behavior, which included entertaining the guards and fellow prisoners. He also appealed for mercy to Neff's known religious beliefs. It was a testament to his persuasive powers, as Neff had run for governor on a pledge not to issue pardons (most Southern judicial systems had no provision for approving parole from prison).<ref>{{cite web |title=Today in Masonic History |url=https://www.masonrytoday.com/index.php?new_month=11&new_day=26&new_year=2017##targetText=In%201920%2C%20Neff%20defeated%20a,Texas%2C%20there%20was%20no%20parole. |website=MASONRYTODAY.com |access-date=October 31, 2019 |date=November 26, 2017}}</ref> After meeting Lead Belly in 1924, Neff returned to the prison several times after he was incarcerated again. He brought guests to the prison on Sunday picnics to hear Ledbetter perform.<ref name="wolfe" />{{rp|85}}

In 1930, Ledbetter was sentenced to [[Louisiana State Penitentiary]] (nicknamed "Angola") after a summary trial for attempted homicide for stabbing a man in a fight. In 1939, Lead Belly served his final jail term for assault after stabbing a man in a fight in [[Manhattan]].