CAPONE, ALPHONSE

CAPONE, ALPHONSE

AL CAPONE was a gangster leader who controlled much of Chicago from 1920 to 1931.
Chicago in the 1920s was a city of vice, corruption, and gangland killings, and synonymous with the evildoings of this era is the name of Al Capone.

Capone was born January 17, 1899, in
Naples, Italy. His family emigrated from Naples,
Italy, to New York and Capone was raised in the
Brooklyn slums. During his early years in New
York he made strong gangland contacts and in
1920, he became a member of the John Torrio
gang. Torrio, originally from New York, relo-
cated his operation to Chicago, with Capone at
his side.

The passage of the VOLSTEAD ACT in 1919
(41 Stat. 305), which prohibited the manufac-
ture, sale, or transportation of liquor, ushered in
an era of big business for gangsters. Capone and
Torrio were no exception; they operated and
organized speakeasies, secret nightclubs that
sold the banned liquor. Capone began to gain
more power and by the time Torrio retired in
1925, Capone’s control had extended to gam-
bling, brothels, and politics. He was responsible
for the gangland murders of his rivals and for
forcibly controlling election results in certain
precincts of Chicago; through these maneuvers,
he increased his power and received protection
and political favors.

Capone was at the peak of his power in 1931,
when he was arrested—ironically—for income
TAX EVASION. The INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
succeeded where other authorities had failed:
uncovering concrete evidence against Capone
for tax evasion. It investigated Capone’s earnings
and discovered that—despite his huge income,
which was judged to be approximately $105 mil-
lion in 1927 – Capone had never filed an income
tax return. In October 1931 Capone was tried in
a federal court and found guilty. He was
required to pay a penalty of $50,000 and to serve
eleven years in jail.

An appeal was pursued and Capone spent
his first days of captivity in Chicago’s Cook
County Jail. There he was still awarded the priv-
ileges of an underworld king. Warden David
Moneypenny allowed him to visit with his gang-
land associates, including Salvatore “Lucky”
Luciano. Capone had requested and was given
an isolated place – the death chamber of the
Cook County Jail – to meet and conduct business
with fellow mobsters.

The appeal was denied, and Capone was sent
to a federal jail in Atlanta, Georgia. There he
performed the duties of a shoemaker until 1934,
at which time he was transferred to Alcatraz in
California.

At Alcatraz Capone was not treated with the
respect and fear to which he was accustomed.He
spent his days as a laundry worker and was
harassed by inmates who took pleasure in persecuting
the once powerful mob king. Capone’s
mental capacities dwindled due to an untreated
attack of syphilis and in 1939 he was released to
the care of his wife and brother.He died January
25, 1947, in Miami Beach, Florida.