As a 17-year-old orphan, Henri Young (Kevin Bacon), steals $5.00 from a grocery store to feed himself and his little sister, both of whom are destitute. He is apprehended by the store clerk, and his sister is sent to an orphanage. Because that grocery store also housed a United States Postal Service his crime becomes a United States federal law offense. Young never sees his sister again and is sentenced to United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas. After later being transferred to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, he participates in an escape attempt with two other prisoners.