Sunday Favorites: Outlaws of the Orange Groves

While Al Capone’s name splashed across national headlines and Pretty Boy Floyd carved a bloody path through the Midwest, a different breed of outlaws was writing its infamous chapter deep in the heart of Central Florida. Among the citrus groves of Sumter County, Alva Dewey Hunt, and Hugh Archer Gant committed a crime wave that rivaled their infamous northern counterparts.

Wanted sign for Alva Dewey Hunt.

These two outlaws operated primarily in the Sunshine State, using their hometown as a base headquarters. While they amassed an extensive list of crimes, they were considered less dangerous than the gangs up North. According to Central Florida’s Most Notorious Gangsters: Alva Hunt and Hugh Gant by Samuel Parish, they never killed anyone during their criminal careers.

Hunt and Gant had a lot in common. Both came from upstanding families in the same rural town, served in WWI, shared a passion for automobiles, and were even brothers-in-law—Hunt was married to Gant’s sister. Growing up in rural Florida, they were true outdoorsmen, skilled at living off the grid for days, weeks, or even months at a time.

However, when the Great Depression set in, it drove otherwise upstanding men to pursue criminal paths to make ends meet. Hunt and Gant channeled their passion for cars into an illegal market. They started by stealing car parts and selling them for profit but quickly realized that taking entire vehicles was more practical and less risky.

In the 1920s and ’30s, car theft was surprisingly easy—a simple pair of wire cutters, an electric wire, and radio clip were all it took to start a car and speed off into the sunset. Additionally, Hunt, a skilled mechanic, could remove serial numbers and repaint vehicles making tracking them across state lines virtually unfeasible. Once a car was disassembled and sold for parts, it became impossible to trace. At its peak, the Hunt-Gant automobile operation was one of the most profitable in Florida - in 1926 alone, more than 4,000 cars were stolen across Florida. 

So, what transitioned these brothers from grand theft auto to bank robbery? The turning point was their short stints in prison during the early 1930s. Until then, they had relied on aliases to evade law enforcement, and the absence of a statewide criminal database made it nearly impossible to connect their crimes. Although they were arrested in multiple towns, they were often released with little more than a slap on the wrist.

But that all changed on February 18, 1930, when a ring of car thieves was rounded up after a brutal knife fight drew the attention of law enforcement. Federal agents were brought in to assess the situation, and both Hunt and Gant ended up behind bars. While incarcerated, they crossed paths with some of Prohibition’s most notorious gangsters. As Parish notes in his book, “Prohibition made gangsters, but prison made gangs.”

On the night of April 24, 1933, Gant, along with two accomplices, escaped by kidnapping a prison engineer at the gate of a Homosassa prison camp. The engineer was later released unharmed, but Gant was free to resume his infamous activities. However, with much of the original gang incarcerated, and the feds on their tail, it made sense to transition out of car theft and on to a new pursuit. 

On November 14, 1934, Gant and Hunt robbed their first bank, the Bank of Mulberry, making off with between $4,000 and $5,000. Emboldened by their success, they launched a string of bank robberies, each heist more daring and increasingly brutal for bystanders. In 1937, their crime spree finally came to an end in Texas, where they were arrested for bank robberies spanning nine states. It’s estimated they stole over $70,000 during their criminal rampage.

Hunt and Gant’s criminal careers spanned 18 years. There were times when they went into hiding, successfully evading the FBI using at least sixty-six different aliases to conceal their identity. They also employed 18 accomplices. Their elusive nature even drew the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, then head of the FBI, who described the duo’s operation as "one of the most notorious bands of criminals to ever operate in the southern U.S. and one hundred percent more dangerous" than other gangsters of the time.

Hunt and Gant may not have achieved the same level of infamy as figures like Al Capone or Pretty Boy Floyd, but their legacy is etched into the criminal history of the American South. Their story is one of contrasts—upstanding family men turned outlaws, war veterans turned fugitives, and skilled outdoorsmen who managed to outwit law enforcement for nearly two decades. Rooted in the rural heart of Central Florida, their crime spree reflected the desperate times of the Great Depression, the evolving landscape of organized crime, and the thin line between survival and notoriety. Though their reign eventually came to an end, Hunt and Gant remain emblematic of a uniquely Floridian brand of outlaw—resourceful, relentless, and forever part of the state’s wild, storied past.