ways, because he is in a state of recidivism. At the end of his trial day, Belbenoît was sentenced to 8 years of forced labor in the penal colony of French Guiana. By virtue of the "doubling", this sentence means that beyond the time of forced labor, the convicted person is required to reside in French Guiana equal to his sentence before being able to return to mainland France. Contesting his conviction, which forced him to stay in French Guiana until his death (even after his release), Belbenoît filed an appeal in cassation but the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal a few months later. Belbenoît joined, in January 1923, the prison of Saint-Martin-de-Ré while waiting to serve his sentence in Prison in French Guiana. On the morning of June 7, 1923, Belbenoît left the prison of Saint-Martin-de-Ré aboard the freighter Le Martinière. The journey lasts fourteen days during which all the prisoners condemned to the Bagne - killers and thieves - are transported and some of whom kill each other. . Imprisonment René Belbenoît landed on June 21, 1923, in the penal colony of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni with the status of "transported". Aged only 24, Belbenoît offers a first escape plan to one of his fellow prisoners, Léonce, who accepts his proposal, also seeking to escape. Despite the warnings of more experienced prisoners, the two convicts then prepare provisions and a raft to ensure their escape. On August 14, 1923, Belbenoît attempted a first escape in the company of Léonce. They embark using a raft, but, the current of the sea being relatively strong, the two convicts run aground a few kilometers further on the French shore. They spend the night there in traumatic circumstances, as he will explain in his book. The next morning, René and Léonce get back on their raft and manage to reach Dutch Guyana. They arrive on the shore but, forced to walk through the jungle, René and Léonce are surrounded by a troop of Indians, who bring them back to the penal colony of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The two convicts are sent to the mitard du Bagne; place where other prisoners, having tried to escape, kill each other. Belbenoît nevertheless escaped death. After leaving the mitard, Belbenoît, still a convict in Cayenne, becomes a nurse and prepares a new escape plan. On November 18, 1924, around 9 p.m., Belbenoît escaped again, in the company of a gang