Lloyd was sentenced to 25 years in 1922, for mail theft, and released in 1938; he was a US Army cook at a POW camp and then was murdered by his wife in 1949. "Ma" did her part to help her sons. "Ma" Barker was not herself a criminal, but badgered parole boards, wardens, and governors for the release of her boys when they were incarcerated. After Alvin was released in 1931, he joined up with Fred Barker in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they soon put together the Barker-Karpis Gang.