Alphonse 'Al' Capone

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Al Capone in 1925

Al Capone biography:

Alphonse Capone was born in January 17, 1899 in New York City. His parents were Italian and emigrated from Naples region in Southern Italy.

Al Capone entered a life of crime at an early age, engaged mainly in petty theft through his membership in two Brooklyn gangs.

At only 14, he was banned from public school for his extreme violence.

His chance came when he joined the infamous Five Points gang, one of New York City's biggest street gangs in the early 20th century. He began working at the bar of his boss Frankie Yale as bartender and bouncer. The bar was called the 'Harvard Inn'. During a day as waiter at this establishment, it was rumored that Capone offended the sister of a tough Italian guy with his rude 'sexual' comments. Frank Gallucio then pulled a knife and attacked the young Capone, who earned his scarface after having his face slashed by the Italian's knife.

Yale, Capone's boss, made him apologize, this conflict caused Yale to take Capone under his wing, and it would ultimately lead to Capone's rule over the Chicago mob later.

The scars ruined his face, and it plagued his entire life. He hated the nickame 'Scarface' and once killed a man for calling him by that nickame.

At the end of 1918, Al Capone married an Irish woman who bore him a son, Albert ("Sonny") Capone. They lived in Brooklyn before moving to Long island.

Capone, while working for Frankie Yale (Five Points gang leader), is thought to have comitted at least two murders before being sent to Chicago to work for Giovanni "Johnny" Torrio, a fellow New Yorker.

Al Capone impressed his new boss Torrio, and soon Torrio offered him to run the Four Deuces bar and Capone also became responsible for the gang's alcohol and prostitution rackets in the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Yale was arrested murder and Torrio became the new leader in the criminal organization, and made Al Capone his second in command.

The Capone family (Al Capone, his wife and son) acquired a bungalow in Chicago' South Side.

In 1923, a reform mayor was elected in Chicago and began pressuring organized crime in the city. Capone moved his headquarters to Cicero, Illinois where he had a corrupt puppet mayor elected, his thugs threatening voters during the vote.

A year later, Capone's brother died at the hands of the police. It deeply affected him, he even cried during funerals.

In 1925, after several assassination attempts on his life by the main rival gang of the North Side, Torrio fled to italy and left Al Capone as supreme leader of the Chicago mob. His gang was pulling in $10 million a year and its main illegal business was the distribution of liquor during the Prohibition era. The Alcohol was smuggled from Canada across the Detroit river and then sent to Chicago, Capone's gang took care of selling it to the masses and the local elite, notably in speakeasies, clandestine bars.

Through laxism (Prohibition was not popular), and organized corruption (like the bribing of Chicago mayor William Thompson), Al Capone maintained his grip over the city's underworld. He started flaunting his newly acquired wealth, buying all the finest things of life, designer suits, imported cigars, hotel food, chic drinks, jewelry and beautiful women.

Through the 1920s, Bugs Moran, the leader of the rival North Side gang (mainly composed of Irish gangsters) would try to murder Al Capone, but always failed, his killers being incompetent.

Al Capone built himself a mini-fortress when he moved his headquarters to the Lexington Hotel. There were guards all over the place, and Capone had a special bullet-proof Cadillac.

In 1929, Al Capone organized the most infamous massacre of the 20th century, named the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre'.

Al Capone gangsters ambushed the leaders of the rival gang on their territory, Chicago's North Side. Some of his gangsters disrupted their meeting, disguised as policemen. They forced the seven men to line up against the wall, and two gunmen entered the garage with Thompson submachine guns and killed all of them. Only Bugs Moran escaped but with his gang leadership beheaded, his gang lost its power and Al Capone's gang became the sole and unique underworld force in Chicago.

Al Capone never did any business under his own personal name, but during a warehouse raid, cops found coded documents and started translating them, this would led Treasury agent Eliot Ness and tax department officers to have been charged with tax evasion.

During the trial, Al Capone pleaded guilty on the advice of his lawyers, in order to negociate a plea bargain. The judge refused and morever changed at the last minute the jury that had been bribed by Capone's men.

Al Capone was convicted for tax evasion by the new jury and he was sentenced to more than ten years. He woud serve only six because of his good behaviour during his jail time.

When he was at the height of his power, Capone began making public appearances, aiming at improving his image, a sort of PR campaign. He also opend up soup kitchens for the poor and homeless during the Great Depression after the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

During his prison time, Al Capone obtained many privileges, before being transferred to Alcatraz in California. There he was isolated from his associates and started losing influence over his criminal group.

Al Capone was released from prison in November 1939, having lost total control of his gang. His healt was very bad due to his untreated syphilis. He retired to Palm Beach, Florida, where he died in 1947 of natural causes.

 
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Al Capone pictures:

Al Capone in 1920

Al Capone in 1925 (2)

Al Capone in 1930

  Al Capone in 1930 (2)

Al Capone in 1930 (3)

Al Capone in 1931

Al Capone in 1931 (2)

Al Capone in 1931 (3)

Al Capone in 1935

More Al Capone pictures, mugshots:

St Valentine's Day Massacre:

The 1920’s were a time of Prohibition, Illegal Gambling, and Prostitution. The 18th amendment made the sale and distribution of alcohol illegal. Many people including Al Capone were involved in those illegal activities. Al Capone was notorious for this illegal activity. He got rich by manufacturing and distributing alcohol. He also owned many illegal bars. Many other gangs were doing the same illegal activity. There was competition over the alcohol. Every gang wanted it since that was how they made their money. In order to make money they had to eliminate the opposing gangs to decrease the competition. Al Capone never did any of the killings. He had his gang members do the killing. They would usually rent a room in front of the victim’s house to stay hidden. Then they would wait for the victim to come outside. Then the gang members would shoot the person. Another way is they would do a drive-by and has someone in the car blast the victim with an Uzi or Thompson machine gun.
One of the most famous and recognizable gang wars was between Al Capone and George ‘Bugs’ Moran. This took place in Chicago, Illinois on February 14,1929. This was called ‘The Saint Valentines Day Massacre’. In the morning at a brick building which was a liquor storage building. Five men who were members of the Irish/German gang under control by George Moran. They were there because they thought there was going to be a truck of hijacked whiskey. While the 7 men were inside the building, a black car pulled up to the building. George Moran had spotted the car and he took cover. He thought it was a police raid since the car was a police car.
Four men came out of the car, 2 were dressed as policemen and the other 2 were in civilian clothing. Minutes later there was machine gun fire. Right after the gunfire took place the 4 men walked outside. The 2 men in civilian clothing held there hands in the air while the other 2 were behind them in the police clothing. They wanted it to seem like there was an arrest going on. The four of them got into the vehicle a drove away.
After the vehicle left, curious neighbors went to check inside the building. What they saw was a blood-splattered crime scene. The 6 men were lined up against a wall and were shot. All 6 of the gangsters were dead. They were James Clark, Frank and Pete Gusenburg, Adam Heyer, Johnny May, Dr. Reinhardt Schwimmer, and Al Weinshank (Crime Library). The only survivors were Jim Mays dog and George Moran. No one ever knew who the killers were but they suspect the hit men behind it were Jack ‘Machine Gun’ McGurn. He was Al Capone’s most trusted man. He had a personal interest in killing Moran. The murders that happened that morning really crippled George Moran’s criminal empire and his gang disappeared. That left Al Capone to take over the area.
Right away George Moran blamed Al Capone for the killings. The Police were puzzled because Al Capone was in Florida during the time of the murders. Right away newspapers picked up on the massacre and deemed it “The Saint Valentines Day Massacre”. The Story was in every newspaper across the country. It brought fame to Al Capone. It also brought attention from the Federal Law Enforcement. This ultimately led to Al Capone’s downfall. In 1931 Al Capone was arrested under the for tax evasion charges. He was convicted and prisoned under the Volstead Act. Ultimately no one was ever convicted for the massacre.
However 5 gunmen at a bowling alley killed Jack McGurn. That took place on February 13,1936. Jacks real name was James Demora and he had over 25 kills for the Capone mob. Morans power decreased and his luck went downhill. He left Chicago and moved to Wisconsin and then Minnesota. He was near the breaking point of poverty. He moved back to Illinois where he robbed banks and gas stations. In 1940 he moved to Ohio where he joined another gang called the Virgil Sumers-Albert Fouts Gang. Moran was arrested in 1946 and spent 10 years in prison. He was released in 1956. Then he went straight back to prison for ten years because he robbed another bank. He died of lung cancer in 1957
Al Capone was known as a generous gangster because he gave to the needy and helped the elderly and he loved kids. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion. He served his prison sentence on Alcatraz Island. He died on January 25,1947 of a cardiac arrest. Some say it was actually syphilis that he contracted from a whorehouse. He was buried in Chicago but later his body was removed and transported to cook county, Illinois.
The building where the massacre took place was turned into a tourist attraction. In 1949 the building was turned into a furniture store. The people who bought it didn’t know the history of the building. In 1967 the building was demolished. A Canadian man bought the wall and made a club. A couple years later the club closed and the owner dismantled the bricks. He put all of the 417 bricks into storage. The bricks sold for 1000 dollars a piece. Another legend says that the bricks were never even sold. Many of the bricks were returned soon after because the people say that the bricks caused them bad luck.
Today the site of the building is now a nursing home. There are five trees in a row in front of the nursing home. The middle tree marks where the rear wall once stood. Passerbies often hear paranormal voices and gunfire as they walk by. People who have dogs with them when they walk by often report there dogs barking, howling, and whining.
Organized crime was a big part of the cultural in the 1920’s. Without this organized crime the FBI would have not been formed. Also Alcohol would still be illegal today. The organized crime would have not made the 21st amendment witch made alcohol legal.
Roger Corman made the Saint Valentines Day Massacre into a 1959 movie. It also inspired the song “The Massacre” by rapper 50 cent. It also gave its name to the World Wrestling Federation Saint Valentines Day Massacre. That is a pay per view event held in 1999. In one of the Simpson’s episodes aired on October 10th, 1991, in that episode Bart shows Fat Tony an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon show where Itchy lines up six cats against a wall and shoots them. Fat Tony then laughs and replies “Its funny cause its true”. Also in the Simpson’s cartoon show there is a cartoon character called Johnny Tight Lips. He hardly ever gives any information to anyone, not even his own gang. He is based on Frank Gusenburg. His catchphrase is “I ain’t sayin nothing!” He says that after a stray bullet has shot him.
As you can see the Saint Valentines Day Massacre is still used today as songs and movies and in cartoon show.

The Untouchables (1987):

Young Treasury Agent Elliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is deternimed to take down Al Capone but he learns that it's not going to be easy, because Capone has the police in his pocket. But Ness meets Jimmy Malone a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one in the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war. They recruit academy cadet, George Stone and Treasury agent Oscar Wallace, who is also an accountant, who wants to prosecute Capone for tax evasion. When they make headway, Capone tries to get them but they are untouchable. More.

Al Capone's car, Al Capone's Cadillac:

Al Capone Cadillac. armored car, V16, model 1930.

Al Capone car in 1928

Essay on Al Capone's life, by Mr. Maclay (U.S. / 1999):

Al Capone in the 1920"s Organized crime was not so organized up until the 1920s. When the 1920s arrived, the American lifestyle changed dramatically. People started investing money in home appliances and automobiles, women"s skirts became higher and drinking became very popular. Also, organized crime came to a rise in the 1920"s. And in the high ranks of organized crime was Al Capone. Al Capone ran many illegal businesses including bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and murders. There were many gangs in the world of organized crime and Al Capone"s was at the top. Al Capone was the most infamous gangster in the 1920"s. Being a big time gangster was big business. Money was made fast and very easily. Bootlegging alcohol was by far the most profitable in the 1920"s, this was because of the prohibition. Gambling was another business that paid off. Gambling stations were set up all over cities. Prostitution and Murders were also crimes that made gangsters money. Alphonse Capone was the biggest force in organized crime. He started his career of crime in Boston, as an apprentice to Johnny Torrio. That is where he earned the unforgettable nickname "Scarface." It was in a bar when Capone made some rude comments about a woman. Minutes later, the woman"s brother sliced Capone in the face. D. VanGorder 2 This man was a friend of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Al Capone was punished and forced to apologize. Al Capone did not become a leader until he went to Chicago. At the time he was still an apprentice to Johnny Torrio. In the midst of the gang violence and bootlegging was Chicago. Chicago was a great place to start a ring of organized crime. The government was very weak which made it easier to do crime. Capone entered the city of Chicago in 1920. At the time, "Big Jim" Colosimo ran things. He made about 50,000 dollars a month. Torrio and Capone started their business with four gambling joints/whore houses in Chicago. These underground places were known as deuces. In Chicago Capone met a man who would be his friend for life, Jack Guzik. Guzik was Jewish. His family lived off prostitution. Al Capone never worried about racial issues, his wife was even Irish. After Jack Guzick was roughed up by a Joe Howard, Capone let out his temper. It did not help when Howard called Capone some rude names. Soon after, Capone shot him down. There was no conviction, it was clear that Capone was becoming more and more powerful. He had to have connections in the law to not be convicted. Al Capone finally got a taste of leadership after a few years of partnership with Torrio. Torrio left Capone in control of their areas to take his sick mother back to Italy. Capone was at the top of a Chicago suburb known as Cicero. At the age of 25, Capone was one of the most powerful men in Chicago, but being such a force also made him a target for rival gangs. D. VanGorder 3 In New York, Arnold Rothstein was "the man." He was a bootlegger, he also sold narcotics, and he started off many big names in crime such as Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Frank Costello and Dutch Shultz. Rothstein made friends with as many bootleggers and gamblers as he could. He never wanted anything to go wrong. He was sort of paranoid but Rothstein was a very powerful man. The most incredible act ever made by a thug just may have been the fixing of the 1919 World Series between the Reds and the White Sox. Many of the White Sox star players wanted higher wages, owners of the club refused. But Rothstien changed that. It was said that he paid off eight of the White Sox players 10,000 dollars each. The Red"s would have lost but with a little help from Rothstein the White Sox did lose and Rothstein got back all of his money winning bets. Charles "Lucky" Luciano was another one of the most successful gangsters during the 1920s. His place of crime was New York. Luciano started under a man named Maranzano as Capone started under Johnny Torrio. Luciano was one of Maranzano"s top men. After being under him, Charles Luciano became tired of it, he wanted more power, and the only way he could do that was to kill Maranzano. He organized a meeting with several top gangsters including one of Capones representatives. They discussed the elimination of Maranzano. Lucianos plan to murder him was approved. When "Lucky" returned to New York he gunned down Maranzano and took over his businesses. In Chicago, Capone was stronger than ever. He was the most feared man in Chicago, but he didn"t earn it bootlegging, pimping, or gambling. Al Capone had to kill D. VanGorder 4 men that got in his way. That is how Al Capone became the most powerful gangster ever. One of Al Capone"s rivals was the gardener Dion O"Banion. Dion was a rival bootlegger whom behavior had to be controlled. He killed men whenever and wherever he wanted. O"Banion even went as far as tricking Torrio which sent him to jail. Something he did wrong was bragging about it. Days later, O"Banion was taken out by Three of Capone"s men in his own flower shop. Capone and Torrio then took over the excellent bootlegging business that was Dion"s. After the Murder of Dion O"Banion, Al Capone and Johnny torrio began to fear for their lives. O"Banion"s gang did not give up, at one point they struck in mid daylight. Capone"s headquarters was the Hawthorne Hotel, the plan was precise. There were two cars packed with thugs, the first car drove by shooting blank rounds to draw out Capone"s men, the next car was to spray the hotel lobby and other surrounding buildings with thousands of bullets. The plan did not work, Capone survived and so did many others, the deaths suprisingly scarce. Since 2 years after O"bannons murder, 12 attempts to assassinate Capone were made. And when Torrio returned, he was almost shot to death. The man who had been giving Capone the most trouble was George "bugs" Moran. Moran Took over Obanion"s gang after the murder of Dion. Capone planned an assassination for Moran. To keep himself out of trouble, Capone laid back in Florida and left "Machine gun" Mcgurn in charge of the hit. On February 14, 1929, two of Capone's men including Mcgurn entered a garage where Moran and some of his guys were said to D. VanGorder 5 be located, The team was dressed in police uniforms and armed with machine guns and sawed off shotguns. They shot down 7 of Moran's men but Moran was never there. The police and all the people of Chicago all knew the murders were ordered by Capone. But with no evidence, Capone could not be arrested. The St. Valentines Day Massacre"s publicity was the most any gang event had ever received. Of all the murders, the cause of many may lie in the hands of the prohibition act. The act started on January 16, 1920. It stated that liqueur that is a beverage can not be manufactured, nor sold, nor be hauled on the face of the earth, but there were many people against this, a lot of those people were gangsters and other thugs. But they didn"t just talk about it, many men became bootleggers and racketeerers. The profits made by this were enormous. Bootlegging led to a tremendous rivalry between a lot of gangs. Al Capone was in constant danger because he was one of the top bootleggers. Richard "peg leg" Lonergan was one of Al Capone"s rival bootleggers. Al Capone was invited to Frankie Yale"s 1925 Christmas party. Yale was tipped off that Lonergan and some of his boys were going to crash the party. The party was going to be canceled but Capone refused. The party happened and Lonergan and his boys showed up around 3:00, Capone had a surprise of his own. When Capone gave the signal "peg leg" didn"t know what to expect. The thing is, Yales Christmas party was held in New York, and by murdering these men Capone was showing his superiority. As Alva Johnston said in the New Yorker D. VanGorder 6 "Chicago is the imperial city of the gang world and New York a remote provincial place." The incident was known as The Adonis club massacre. Prohibition may have caused the highest crime rate ever in organized crime. Frankie yale was a longtime friend of Al Capone and Johnny Torrio. He was used in various hits including the murders of Dion O"banion and "Big Jim" Colosimo. In 1928 Capone found out that Yale had been hijacking many of his "booze" trucks. Soon after, Yale was shot down. No other single gangster could be as infamous as Al Capone. Al Capone was the most powerful gangster to ever live. No one could stop his reign of crime, and anyone that got in his way, he would take out, Even when it came to his friends. He was never convicted for any of the hundreds of crimes he committed, this is one of the most important facts that showed how many connections Capone had. It was until the 1930"s when Capone was convicted of Tax invasion. While serving his jail time Alphonse Capone became a victim of the deadly disease Syphilis. Al Capone died but his crime legacy will always live on.

Al Capone: One of the Most Ruthless Men of All Time (2005):

The ultimate symbol of a gangster rule, is a man by the name of Al Capone, who dominated the Chicago underworld by committing many crimes: such as illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution during prohibition. Capone’s life of gang activity started at a very young age. He created a multi-million dollar empire of crime in Chicago. He has been referred to as one of the most ruthless men of all time (Stockdale 45). He was a smart businessman, good family man, and a generous person, that lived a life full of murders and other crimes.

Gabriele Capone was a barber that lived in Naples, Italy who decided to escape a bleak rural life in the promise of work and success in the New World. He was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894 (Stockdale 7-8). Gabriele was 30 years old and he brought his 27-year-old wife, Teresina and their three sons. He was planning to start a barbershop when he got to America. On January 17, 1899, Teresina gave birth to their fourth son named Alphonse Capone (Bardsley 2). The Capone family lived a very normal life with no problems or events that would explain why their sons chose a life of crime. In 1907, Gabriel moved his family into an apartment over his barbershop in an Italian district in south Brooklyn. This move exposed Alphonse to a different kind of life on the streets. He became a member of a junior gang called the Forty Thieves Juniors, which taught its members the art of petty vandalism. The gang taught him how to use violence to get what you want. When he was 14 years old, Al got expelled from school and never went back after he got mad at his teacher and hit her. By this time, Al Capone was destined to live a life of crime (Stockdale 9-11).

By the time Al was 14 years old, he was an experienced streetfighter and had learned how to use a knife and gun successfully. He became a good leader of the junior gang and was introduced to the Five Points Gang in Brooklyn by Frankie Yale and John Torrio. He began working for Frankie Yale who was an important figure in the adult gang in Brooklyn. Al was 16 years old and was helping control Yale’s prostitution, gambling, extortion, and protection rackets (Schoenberg 23-25). Al Capone worked at the Harvard Inn as a bartender and a bouncer. One night he tried to pick up a woman that he found attractive, not knowing that her brother was sitting next to her. The brother jumped up and hit Capone in the face. Capone became raged and the other man pulled out a knife and cut Capone’s face 3 times before he ran out of the Harvard Inn with his sister. This is how Capone earned his nickname, Scarface (Bardsley 7-9).

In 1918, Al Capone got married and had a son. His wife’s name was Mae Coughlin. His son was found to have congenital syphilis. Years after his sons birth, Capone admitted that he had syphilis before he got married. Capone got out of the gang life for a little while until his father died of a heart attack on November 14, 1920. After the death of his father, he resumed his relationship with John Torrio (Bergreen 57). Torrio then decided to abandon the congested streets of Brooklyn for the open spaces in Chicago. He moved to Chicago because of the many opportunities for money to be made. Capone had threats out for his life so moved to Chicago to help John Torrio with his new operation (Stockdale 11-13).

John Torrio began to form a new empire in Chicago. After the prohibition laws were passed, Torrio saw an opportunity to make a lot of money so he set up warehouses and breweries to supply bars with illegal alcohol. Al soon became Torrio’s assistant when he took over as manager of the Four Deuces, which was Torrio’s headquarters in the Leevee area. Torrio started an operation in Cicero because he could purchase the entire city government and police departments. He paid off all the officials, political leaders, and even the street cops. This new organization had a guaranteed noninterference of the authorities (Stockdale 15-19). Al Capone began running Cicero when Torrio had to take his mother back to Italy. Capone helped politicians win in elections by kidnapping opponent’s election workers and threatening voters with violence (Bardsley 14-16).

By this time, Al had committed or ordered many murders, but had not been charged for any of them. He avoided investigations and prosecutions for the murders because the witnesses were afraid to speak out for they feared for their lives (Schoenberg 362). Tension was brewing in Chicago and Capone had many attempts on his life, so he ordered a bulletproof, steel armored car that weighed 7 tons. Shortly after Torrio came back from Italy, he was shot and almost died. He recovered from the gunshot in jail because it was safer than being in a hospital. Because of these events, Torrio decided to retire from the gang community. He gave full control of the gang in Chicago and Cicero to Capone (Stockdale 19-21).

Al Capone became a major force in the Chicago underworld. He made his new headquarters at the Metropole Hotel in a 5-room luxury suite cost about 1500 dollars a day (Bardsley 23). Capone was an important celebrity figure in the community; showing up at operas, sports events, and charitable functions, always nicely dressed. He was a celebrity everywhere he went because of the excitement and danger that he added to every occasion (Stockdale 29-31).

In Chicago, there was an intense rivalry between gangs growing. Each gang was trying to eliminate their competition by killing rival gang members. Anytime Capone was suspected of a murder, he went into hiding till the situation died down. Capone succeeded in killing all of his enemies and became the strong force in Chicago. He made peace with what was left of the rival gangs (Bardsley 24-26). Al Capone was a very giving person and did many generous things for his community. He made many contributions for the less fortunate including opening soup kitchens for the poor, and purchasing food and fuel for families in the winter. His bootlegging operations employed thousands of people, which included many poor Italian immigrates. He paid them very well and took care of them. It was reported that his gross income from all his business in 1927 was a 100 million dollars (Schoenburg 281-282). Despite his ruthless business tactics, Capone found time to give back to the community and make public appearances.

In 1927, Al had 10 attempts on his life because a rival gang placed a 50,000-dollar bounty on his head. All 10 attempts failed and Capone’s hit men killed all of the attempted murderers. Capone was undergoing a lot of heat in Chicago, so he purchased a 14-room estate in Palm Beach, Florida, to escape from the city (Bardsley 27-30). Capone devised a plan to take over all of the bootlegging business in Chicago. He set up a trap to kill his bootlegging opponent, Moran, and his men. The plan was to happen on February 14 at Moran’s headquarters. They parked a car that looked like a police car across the street from Moran’s headquarters. Inside the car were two of Capone’s men dressed as policemen and three other men to act as the prisoners. The 5 men walked in to Moran’s place and acted like they were going to arrest them. Moran and his gang surrendered and put their hands in the air. Then the five guys from Capone’s gang pulled out machine guns and killed all of the men. Then the five guys walked out of the building and drove off. This event was called the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Capone went back to Florida to lay low for a while and avoid an investigation and arrest. It didn’t last very long because the Chicago police called Capone back to Chicago for questioning in the murders and also in a tax status (Bergreen 305-314). Capone got away with the murders once again.

In May 1929, at the national mobsters’ convention in Atlantic City, the leader of a rival gang bought out Capone’s hit men. Capone was deeply hurt by the betrayal of his men and became outraged. Capone beat all of them with a baseball bat, shot them, and then had their bodies dumped several miles away (Stockdale 35-36). After these events, he came up with a plan to get arrested for a minor charge so he could lay low in jail for a couple of months. He purposely got arrested for carrying a gun and carried no money with him to bail himself out. While he was in jail, the Supreme Court ruled that illegally earned income was taxable. After this ruling, the IRS began investigating Capone. When he got released from prison, he could not go anywhere without getting arrested for doing something very minor (Bergreen 515-516).

In June of 1931, Capone was charged with 23 counts of unpaid taxes totaling 200,000 dollars. He pleaded not guilty to the charges when he went to court. The court found him guilty of 5 of the 23 counts on which he was charged. The judge sentenced him to a maximum of 11 years in prison and 80,000 dollars in fines. The most celebrated gang boss and murderer in the country was going to prison for tax evasion (Stockdale 42-43).

While in Prison, he employed bodyguards buy smuggling money into the prison. This didn’t last for very long because in 1934 he was one of the first prisoners to be transferred to Alcatraz in San Francisco. At Alcatraz, prisoners were allowed no contact with the outside world. Capone soon developed symptoms of mental instability. He was seed wandering around the prison in a confused state and was raving and drooling. He was diagnosed as suffering from tertiary syphilis. Capone spent the rest of his prison term in the hospital (Stockdale 44). On January 6, 1939, he was released from Alcatraz and went to a county jail. Then on November 16, he became a free man and he lived permanently in Palm Beach with his wife (Bardsley 34-35). Capone never went back to doing any gang activity because of his illness. Then on January 21, 1948, Al Capone suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Capone regained consciousness and was able to talk with his family. Then a few days later he caught pneumonia and died of a heart attack on January 25. His body was buried in Chicago on February 4. The site of his grave became a famous tourist attraction so they moved the body to an unpublicized spot in Mount Carmel Cemetery. His tombstone read, “My Jesus Mercy (Bergreen 605-609).”

“Public service is my motto. Ninety percent of the people in Chicago drink and gamble. I’ve tried to serve them decent liquor and square games. But I’m not appreciated. I’m known all over the world as a millionaire gorilla,” said Al Capone (Bergreen 16). Alphonse Capone redefined the concept of crime into an organized endeavor modeled on corporate enterprise (Stockdale 45). He dominated the Chicago underworld through illegal gambling, extortion, prostitution, and alcohol distribution. Capone eliminated all of his opponents and avoided prosecution for the crimes that he committed. He was the ultimate symbol of a gangster rule.

Al Capone, Al Capone, Al Capone:

The ultimate symbol of a gangster rule is a man the name of Alphonse Capone, nickname Al Capone, who dominates the Chicago underworld crimes: such as illegal gambling, prostitution, and alcohol during prohibition. Capone’s life of gang activates at a very young age, created a multi-million dollar empire of crimes in Chicago. He has been referred to as one of the most notorious criminals of all time. (Stockdale 45). He was a smart businessman, good family man, and a generous person, that lived the life full of murders and other crimes.
His father Gabriele Capone was a barber that lived in Naples, Italy who decided to escape the rural life in the promise of work of the new world. He was one of the 43.000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894 (Stockdale 7-8). Gabriele was 30 years old and his 27 year old wife Teresina and their three sons. He was planning to start a barbershop when he got to America. On January Teresina gave birth to their fourth son named Alphonse Capone (Bardsley 2). The Capone family lived a very normal life with its barbershop in an Italian district in South Brooklyn. This move exposed Capone to a different kind of life on the streets. He became member of a junior gang called the Forty Thieves Juniors, which taught its members the art of petty vandalism. The gang taught the use of violence to get what they want. When he was 14 years old, Al Capone got expelled from school and never went back after hitting a teacher. By this time, Al Capone was destined to live a life of crimes (Stockdale 9-11).
By the time he was 14 years old, he was experienced street fighter and had learned how to use a knife and gun successfully and he became a good leader of the junior gang and was introduced to the Five Points Gang in Brooklyn. Al Capone was 16 years old when he was introduced to prostitution, gambling, extortion (Schoenberg 23-25). Al Capone worked at the Harvard Inn as a bouncer. One night the tried to pick up a woman that he found attractive, not knowing that her brother was sitting next to her. Her brother jumped up and hit Capone in the face. Capone became raged and the other man pulled out a knife and cut Capone’s face before he ran out of the Harvard Inn with his sister. This is how All Capone earned his nickname, Scarface (Bardsley 7-9).
In 1918, Al Capone got married and had a son with his wife Mae Coughlin. His son was found to have a congenital syphilis and Al Capone admitted that he had syphilis before he got married. Al Capone got out of the gang life for a little while after his father died of a heart attack on November 14, 1920. After the death of his father, he resumed his relationship with John Torrio. Torrio then decided to move out of Brooklyn for Chicago. Al Capone had threats of his life so he moved to Chicago with Torrio. (Stockdale 11-13).
John Torrio Began a new empire in Chicago after the prohibition law was passed. Al Capone became Torrio’s assistant and manager. Torrio started an operation to purchase the entire city government and police departments. He paid off all the officials, political leaders so his new organization had a guaranteed noninterference of the authorities (Stockdale 15-19). Al Capone began running the operation when Torrio had to take his mother back to Italy. Capone helped politicians win elections by kidnapping opponents and threatening voter with violence (Bardsley 14-16).
Al Capone by this time had committed many murders, but had not been charged for any of them. The victims were afraid to speak out for they feared for their lives. Short after Torrio came back from Italy; he was shot and almost died. He recovered from this incident and decided to retire from the gang community. He gave full control of the gang in Chicago to Al Capone (Stockdale 19-21).
In Chicago, there was an intense rivalry between gangs growing. Each gang was trying to eliminate by killing its members. Anytime Al Capone was suspected of a murder, he went hiding till the situation died down. Al Capone succeed in making peace with was left of the rival gangs (Bardsley 24-26).
Al Capone was a very giving person and did many generous things for this community. He made many contributions for the less fortunate and opening soup kitchens for the poor and purchased food and fuel for families in the winter. His business employs thousands of people, which included many poor Italian immigrants. He paid them very well and took care of them. It was reported that his gross income from all his business in 1927 was 100 million dollars (Schoenburg 282-282). Even though he has a ruthless business in his hand he found time to give back to the community and make public appearances.
Unemployed people did not care that the money he gave them was made illegally, to them money was money. People were at depression at the time, and they were fortunate enough just to receive little something even though it came illegally.
In February 14, 1927, two of the Capone’s men including his hit man Mcgurn entered a garage where his rival gang Moran and some of his guys were said to be located, the team was dressed in police uniforms and armed with machine guns and shotguns. They shot down seven of Moran’s men’s but Moran was never there. The police and all the people of Chicago knew the murders were ordered by Capone. But with no evidence, Capone could not be arrested. Ever since the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, Al Capone was know as most famous gangster in the 1920s.
The publicity surrounding the St. Valentines Day Massacre was the most any gang event had ever received. It was the only local publicity at that moment that gained national media attention. Capone was immediately noticed by the national media and writers all over the country began to write books on Capone (Bergreen 28-31). Now Capone was known all over the United States and people now know who he is and what he has done in Chicago. Al Capone influence many other smaller gangsters as a good influence to them.
Capone revealed in his new found celebrity status and used Damon Runyo as his press Agent (Bergreen 35-36). Now the damage of all the publicity had done because Capone’s intention was to attract the attention of President Herbert Hoover.
President Hoover wanted Al Capone in jail and he directed all the federal agencies to concentrate upon Al Capone and his allies.
A few days latter Capone was called before a grand Jury in Chicago, but did not understand the seriousness of the powerful forces that were gathering against him. In June 1930, after an exhaustive investigation by the federal government, Al Capone was indicted for income tax evasion.
One of the most notorious criminals of the 20th century, murder of innumerous people imprisoned for tax evasion (American Decades CD-room).
The jury found Al Capone not guilty on eighteen of the twenty-three counts. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in Federal Prison and one year in county jail.
In May 1930, Capone was sent to Atlanta, the toughest of the Federal Prisons, to begin his eleven year sentence. In prison Capone took control, getting special privileges from the authorities such as furnishing his cell with a mirror, typewriter, rugs, and a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Capone took control because of his wealth that he still had.
The word spread around that Capone had taken over in Atlanta, so he was sent to Alcatraz. Alcatraz prison was so tight that he had no knowledge of the outside world. He was unable to control anyone or buy influence or friends (Al Capone).
While in Alcatraz, he exhibited signs of syphilitic dementia. Capone spent the rest of this felony sentence in the hospital. Capone spent his last year in the hospital and in January 6, 1939, his prison sentence expired and he was transferred to Terminal Island, a Federal correction Institution in California, to serve his one-year misdemeanor sentence. He was finally released on November 16, 1939. Capone returned to this home in Palm Island and spends the rest of his life relaxed and quiet. On January 21, 1947, he had a stroke but regained conscious and began to improve until pneumonia hit Capone. Then a few days later he died of a heart attack on January 25. His body was buried in Chicago on February four; the site of his grave became a famous tourist attraction so they moved the body to an unpublicized spot in Mount Carmel cemetery. His tombstone read, “My Jesus Mercy (Bergreen 605-609).
Al Capone was a notorious and intelligent gangster, he used his famous status not only to accumulate wealth but to help people and gain influence in all social status of life.
I do not know what causes criminal behavior but if we put two famous criminal side by side and explain their childhood maybe we can get close to an answer. For example:
Al Capone and Charles Manson were two different personality but they were both danger criminals.
Capone and Manson grow up in different environment that was decisive to the development of their character. Capone had a family but involved with the wrong people in his adolescence that in my opinion led him to his life of criminal behavior.
Manson in the other hand had been a messed up individual since day one, his mother was sent to prison for armed robbery and tried to get Manson in a foster home, however the courts refused and sent him to Gibault School for Boys where he was always angry.
Arthur L. Beeley explains that experience has shown that human beings are basically prone to theft and violence. In pre-civilized societies, however, sooner or later evolve sanctions which forbid and punish predatory behavior. These morals are calculated to protect the individual in his right to the ownership of property, and to the inviolability of his personality. He also explains that in complex urban cultures, such as those of the West, especially societies like ours which experience periods of rapids social change, the traditional moral sanctions and the social institutions which define and enforce them tend to become ineffective in controlling the anti-social tendencies of their members.
In my opinion, crime behavior has everything to do with our childhood; if the human race is prone to theft and violence the only way to stop this behavior is to teach our children how to be a good citizen when they grow up. If all the parents teach their children how to be good citizens and follow the rules of society, maybe the tendency to criminal behavior will end one day.
References
Bergreen, & Lawrence (1996).The Man and the Era.
Haller, M.. (1999). American National Biography. Oxford University Press.
Hornung, R. (1998). Al Capone. Randon House Value Publish.
Kobler, J. (1992). Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone. G.P. Putnam’s New York.
American Decades CD (1998) – Al Capone. Gale Research. Gale Group.
Al Capone. Chicago History Museum (2001).
Encyclopedia of World Biography. Al Capone. 2nd ed. Volume Gale Research.