 He was sentenced to two years in state prison for his involvement in the promotion of a fight between Christopher Lilly and Thomas McCoy, which resulted in the death of McCoy on September 13, 1842.He received a pardon after two years on the condition that two men put up two hundred dollars, and that he agree not to fight for two years.During his time in New York he was the owner of a saloon known as the Sawdust House on New York City's Division Street, within walking distance of Tom Hyer's bar on Park Row.