Albert Bates was first arrested in Nevada for burglary on March 28, 1916, and was sentenced to serve 1 to 15 years at the state prison in Carson City.

Bates would continuously be in trouble with the law throughout his criminal career, particularly as a young man, and was imprisoned in the Colorado state penitentiary in Cañon City for a third burglary conviction on May 10, 1927.

Seven months later, he and Kelly teamed with Eddie Bentz to rob a bank on Colfax, Washington, of $77,000 in cash and bonds on September 21.

Although Kelly would evade authorities for another month, Bates and the rest involved in the Urschall kidnapping were convicted in federal court on September 30, 1933.

Bates died of heart disease on July 4, 1948,[2][3][4][5][9] and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.