Al Capone Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Career== ===New York City=== Capone initially became involved with small-time gangs that included the Junior Forty Thieves and the Bowery Boys. He then joined the Brooklyn Rippers, and then the powerful [[Five Points Gang]] based in [[Lower Manhattan]]. During this time he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer [[Frankie Yale]], a bartender in a [[Coney Island]] dance hall and saloon called the Harvard Inn. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while [[bouncer (doorman)|working the door]], and he was slashed with a knife three times on the left side of his face by her brother, Frank Galluccio; the wounds led to the nickname "Scarface", which Capone loathed.<ref name=fivefamilies>{{cite book| title = The Five Families| date = 2014| publisher = MacMillan| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5nAt6N8iQnYC| page = 42| isbn = 978-1429907989| access-date = November 19, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160430222535/https://books.google.com/books?id=5nAt6N8iQnYC| archive-date = April 30, 2016| url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="kobler36">Kobler, 36.</ref><ref name="LScarface">{{cite web |first= Marilyn |last= Bardsley|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/scarface_4.html|title= Scarface|access-date=March 29, 2008 |publisher= Crime Library|work= Al Capone|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104161021/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/scarface_4.html |archive-date=November 4, 2013}}</ref> The date when this occurred has been reported with inconsistencies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/28/archives/slasher-of-capone-seized-by-odwyer-galluccio-who-carved-scar-on.html|title=Slasher of Capone Seized by O'Dwyer; Galluccio, Who Carved Scar on Racketeer's Face, Asked About Gang Murders|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 28, 1940|access-date=May 30, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162040/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/28/archives/slasher-of-capone-seized-by-odwyer-galluccio-who-carved-scar-on.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqvZBQAAQBAJ&q=capone+galluccio+1918&pg=PT24|year=2012|title=Top Cases of The FBI|author=RJ Parker}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id108.htm|title=Origins of the Scars|access-date=May 30, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162059/http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id108.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> When Capone was photographed, he hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds.<ref name="kobler36"/><ref>Kobler, 15.</ref> He was called "Snorky" by his closest friends, a term for a sharp dresser.<ref>"Mobsters and Gangsters from Al Capone to Tony Soprano", ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' (2002).</ref> ===Move to Chicago=== In 1919, Capone left New York City for [[Chicago]] at the invitation of Torrio, who was imported by crime boss [[Jim Colosimo|James "Big Jim" Colosimo]] as an enforcer. Capone began in Chicago as a bouncer in a [[brothel]], where it is thought the most likely way for him to have contracted [[syphilis]]. Capone was aware of being infected at an early stage and timely use of [[Arsphenamine|Salvarsan]] probably could have cured the infection, but he apparently never sought treatment.<ref>''Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted'', by Jonathan Eig. p. 17</ref> In 1923, Capone purchased a small house at 7244 South [[Prairie Avenue]] in the Park Manor neighborhood in Chicago's [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]] for {{US$|5500}}.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hood |first=Joel |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-talk-caponeapr02,0,5381253.story |title=Capone home on the market β Chicago Tribune Archives |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=April 2, 2009 |access-date=March 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405100727/http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-talk-caponeapr02%2C0%2C5381253.story |archive-date=April 5, 2009 }}</ref> According to the ''[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]'', hijacker Joe Howard was killed on May 7, 1923, after he tried to interfere with the Capone-Torrio [[rum-running|bootlegging]] business.<ref name="decade">{{cite news | last = Murchie| first = Guy Jr. | date = February 9, 1936 | title = Capone's Decade of Death | url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7709144/chicago_tribune_19360209/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171029012906/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7709144/chicago_tribune_19360209/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 29, 2017 | newspaper = Chicago Daily Tribune}}</ref> In the early years of the decade, Capone's name began appearing in newspaper sports pages where he was described as a [[boxing]] promoter.<ref>''Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era'', by J. Anne Funderburg p. 235</ref> Torrio took over Colosimo's criminal empire after the latter's murder on May 11, 1920, in which Capone was suspected of being involved.<ref name="Biography Channel">{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?catId=259452&action=view&profileId=262834 |title=Notorious Crime Files: Al Capone |access-date=November 12, 2010 |publisher=Biography.com |work=[[The Biography Channel]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727215147/http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?action=view&profileId=262834&catId=259452 |archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first= Marilyn|last= Bardsley|url= http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/chicago_5.html|title= Chicago|access-date= April 3, 2008|publisher= Crime Library|work= Al Capone|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080531032517/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/chicago_5.html|archive-date= May 31, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Kobler, 37.</ref> Torrio headed an essentially [[American Mafia|Italian organized crime group]] that was the biggest in Chicago, with Capone as his right-hand man. Torrio was wary of being drawn into gang wars and tried to negotiate agreements over territory between rival crime groups. The smaller [[North Side Gang]], led by [[Dean O'Banion]], came under pressure from the [[Genna crime family|Genna brothers]] who were allied with Torrio. O'Banion found that Torrio was unhelpful with the Gennas' encroachment, despite his pretensions to be a settler of disputes.<ref>{{cite book |title= Capone: The Man and the Era|url= https://archive.org/details/caponemanera00berg|url-access= registration|last= Bergreen|first= Laurence|year= 1994|publisher= Simon and Schuster Paperbacks|location= New York|isbn= 978-0684824475|pages= [https://archive.org/details/caponemanera00berg/page/131 131β132]}}</ref> In a fateful step, Torrio arranged the murder of O'Banion at his flower shop on November 10, 1924. This placed [[Hymie Weiss]] at the head of the gang, backed by [[Vincent Drucci]] and [[Bugs Moran]]. Weiss had been a close friend of O'Banion, and the North Siders made it a priority to get revenge on his killers.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|pp=134β135, 138}}</ref><ref name="myalcaponemuseum.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id89.htm|title=Hymie Weiss|website=Myalcaponemuseum.com|access-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914203544/http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id89.htm|archive-date=September 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> During [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], Capone was involved with Canadian bootleggers who helped him smuggle [[liquor]] into the U.S. When Capone was asked if he knew [[Rocco Perri]], billed as Canada's "King of the Bootleggers", he replied: "Why, I don't even know which street Canada is on."<ref>{{cite book |last=Gervais |first=Marty |date= 2009 |title=The Rumrunners: A Prohibition Scrapbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FiZWrNjIPykC&q=al+capone+prohibition+smugglers+from+canada&pg=PA146 |publisher=Bibilioasis |page=113 |isbn=978-0920668085 |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607163021/https://books.google.ca/books?id=FiZWrNjIPykC&pg=PA146 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other sources, however, claim that Capone had certainly visited Canada,<ref>{{cite book |date=2019 |title=The Leamington Italian Community: Ethnicity and Identity in Canada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnqfDwAAQBAJ&q=Rocco+Perri+detroit+river&pg=PT147 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0773554696 |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104161841/https://books.google.com/books?id=hnqfDwAAQBAJ&q=Rocco+Perri+detroit+river&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref> where he maintained some hideaways,<ref>{{cite news|title=How a Town in Quebec Got the Nickname 'Little Chicago'|date=January 22, 2019|url=http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/January-2019/How-a-Town-in-Quebec-Got-the-Nickname-Little-Chicago/|work=Chicago Magazine|access-date=June 7, 2020|quote=the gangster ran cross-border bootlegging operations and kept hideaways in the north.|archive-date=June 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607151524/http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/January-2019/How-a-Town-in-Quebec-Got-the-Nickname-Little-Chicago/|url-status=live}}</ref> but the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] states that there is no "evidence that he ever set foot on Canadian soil."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/fun-facts-and-urban-legends|title=Fun facts and urban legends|publisher=rcmp-grc.gc.ca|date=December 17, 2014|access-date=January 4, 2021|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104161835/https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/fun-facts-and-urban-legends|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Boss=== [[File:Unemployed men queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone, 02-1931 - NARA - 541927.jpg|thumb|Unemployed men outside a [[soup kitchen]] opened by Capone in Chicago during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Depression]], February 1931]] An ambush in January 1925 left Capone shaken but unhurt. Twelve days later, Torrio was returning from a shopping trip when he was shot several times. After recovering, he effectively resigned and handed control to Capone, aged 26, who became the new boss of an organization that took in illegal breweries and a transportation network that reached to Canada, with [[political corruption|political]] and [[police corruption|law-enforcement protection]]. In turn, he was able to use more violence to increase revenue. Any establishment that refused to purchase liquor from Capone often got blown up, and as many as 100 people were killed in such bombings during the 1920s. Rivals saw Capone as responsible for the proliferation of brothels in the city.<ref name="myalcaponemuseum.com"/><ref>Sifakis, Carl (1999), ''The Mafia Encyclopedia'', 2nd ed., Checkmark Books, p. 362 {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>Russo, Gus, ''The Outfit'', Bloomsbury (2001), pp. 39β40</ref><ref>''Disasters and Tragic Events'', edited by Mitchell Newton-Matza p. 258 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Capone often enlisted the help of local members of the black community into his operations; [[jazz]] musicians [[Milt Hinton]] and [[Lionel Hampton]] had uncles who worked for Capone on Chicago's South Side. A fan of jazz as well, Capone once asked clarinetist [[Johnny Dodds]] to play a number that Dodds did not know; Capone split a $100 bill in half and told Dodds that he would get the other half when he learned it. Capone also sent two bodyguards to accompany jazz pianist [[Earl Hines]] on a road trip.<ref name=jazz>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDavAgAAQBAJ&q=capone|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0393065824|location=New York|pages=226β227}}</ref> Capone indulged in custom suits, cigars, gourmet food and drink, and female companionship. He was particularly known for his flamboyant and costly jewelry. His favorite responses to questions about his activities were: "I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want"; and, "All I do is satisfy a public demand." Capone had become a national celebrity and talking point.<ref name=fivefamilies/> [[File:Florida-Miami-Al Capones Mansion-1922-1.jpg|thumb|The entrance to Capone's mansion in [[Palm Island, Florida]], located at 93 Palm Avenue. Capone bought the estate in 1928 as a winter retreat and lived there until his death in 1947.]] Capone based himself in [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]], [[Illinois]], after using bribery and widespread intimidation to take over town council elections, making it difficult for the North Siders to target him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-al-capone-cicero-election-johnny-torrio-per-0322-jm-20150319-story.html|title=Al Capone's battle for Cicero included ballots and bullets|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=March 20, 2015|access-date=January 23, 2021|archive-date=December 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205120232/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-al-capone-cicero-election-johnny-torrio-per-0322-jm-20150319-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Capone's driver was found tortured and murdered, and there was an attempt on Weiss' life in the [[Chicago Loop]]. On September 20, 1926, the North Siders used a ploy outside Capone's headquarters at the Hawthorne Inn aimed at drawing him to the windows. Gunmen in several cars then opened fire with [[Thompson submachine gun]]s and [[shotgun]]s at the windows of the first-floor restaurant. Capone was unhurt and called for a truce, but the negotiations fell through. Three weeks later, on October 11, Weiss was killed outside the North Siders' headquarters at O'Banion's former flower shop. The owner of Hawthorne's restaurant was a friend of Capone's, and he was kidnapped and killed by Moran and Drucci in January 1927.<ref>Russo, Gus, ''The Outfit'', Bloomsbury (2001), p. 37</ref><ref name="CBS">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5369641-504083.html |title=Al Capone's Couderay, Wisconsin Hideout Home for Sale; Asking Price $2.6M |work=CBS News |date=October 7, 2009 |access-date=March 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212125601/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5369641-504083.html |archive-date=February 12, 2012 }}</ref> Capone became increasingly security-minded and desirous of getting away from Chicago.<ref name="CBS"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/wisconsin.capone.hideout.sold/index.html |title=Reputed Capone hideout sold to Wisconsin bank |work=CNN |date=October 8, 2009 |access-date=April 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719162225/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/08/wisconsin.capone.hideout.sold/index.html |archive-date=July 19, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a precaution, he and his entourage would often show up suddenly at one of Chicago's train depots and buy up an entire [[Pullman (car or coach)|Pullman]] [[Sleeping car|sleeper car]] on a night train to [[Cleveland]], [[Omaha]], [[Kansas City]], [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] or [[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], [[Arkansas]], where they would spend a week in luxury hotel suites under assumed names. In 1928, Capone paid $40,000 to Clarence Busch of the [[Anheuser-Busch]] brewing family for a {{convert|10000|sqfoot|m2}} home at 93 Palm Avenue on [[Palm Island (Miami Beach)|Palm Island]], [[Florida]], between [[Miami]] and [[Miami Beach]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/gangster-al-capones-miami-mansion-sale-steal-8-5m-n26331|title=Gangster Al Capone's Miami Mansion For Sale; a Steal at $8.5M|publisher=NBC News|date=February 10, 2014|access-date=July 7, 2021|archive-date=August 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822070302/http://www.nbcnews.com/business/real-estate/gangster-al-capones-miami-mansion-sale-steal-8-5m-n26331|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Feud with Aiello=== In November 1925, Capone's ''[[consigliere]]'', [[Antonio Lombardo]], was named head of the [[Unione Siciliana]], a Sicilian-American benevolent society that had been corrupted by gangsters. An infuriated [[Joe Aiello]], who had wanted the position himself, believed Capone was responsible for Lombardo's ascension and resented the non-Sicilian's attempts to manipulate affairs within the Unione.<ref name="Keefe216">{{Harvnb|Keefe|2005|p=216}}.</ref> Aiello severed all personal and business ties with Lombardo and entered into a feud with Capone.<ref name="Keefe216" />{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}} Aiello allied himself with several other Capone enemies, including [[Jack Zuta]], who ran vice and gambling houses together.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=136}}<ref name="CT01051928">{{Cite news |title=Gang Bullets Again Riddle the Aiello Brothers Bakery |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=January 5, 1928 |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1928/01/05/page/3/article/gang-bullets-again-riddle-the-aiello-brothers-bakery |location=[[Chicago]] |page=3 |access-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216053744/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1928/01/05/page/3/article/gang-bullets-again-riddle-the-aiello-brothers-bakery/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Aiello plotted to eliminate both Lombardo and Capone, and starting in the spring of 1927 made several attempts to assassinate Capone.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}} On one occasion, Aiello offered money to the chef of [[Joe Esposito (mobster)|Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito]]'s Bella Napoli CafΓ©, Capone's favorite restaurant, to put [[prussic acid]] in Capone's and Lombardo's soup; reports indicated he offered between $10,000 and $35,000.<ref name="Keefe216" /><ref name="Sifakis5">{{cite book |last=Sifakis |first=Carl |date=2005 |title=The Mafia Encyclopedia |location=New York |publisher=Checkmark Books |edition=3rd |isbn=0816056951 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0 |page=5}}.</ref> Instead, the chef exposed the plot to Capone,{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}}<ref name="Lyle111260">{{Cite news |last=Lyle |first=John H. |title=Chicago in the Capone Era: a City in Chains |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=November 12, 1960 |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/11/12/page/11/article/chicago-in-the-capone-era-a-city-in-chains |location=[[Chicago]] |page=11 |access-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216055847/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/11/12/page/11/article/chicago-in-the-capone-era-a-city-in-chains/ |url-status=live }}</ref> who responded by dispatching men to destroy Aiello's bakery on West Division Street with machine-gun fire.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}} More than 200 bullets were fired into the bakery on May 28, 1927, wounding Joe's brother Antonio.<ref name="Keefe216" /> During the summer and autumn of 1927, a number of hitmen Aiello hired to kill Capone were themselves slain. Among them were Anthony Russo and Vincent Spicuzza, each of whom had been offered $25,000 by Aiello to kill Capone and Lombardo.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}} Aiello eventually offered a $50,000 [[bounty (reward)|bounty]] to anyone who eliminated Capone.<ref name="Sifakis5" />{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=135}} At least ten gunmen tried to collect on the bounty but ended up dead.<ref name="Keefe216" /> Capone's ally Ralph Sheldon attempted to kill both Capone and Lombardo for Aiello's reward, but Capone henchman [[Frank Nitti]]'s intelligence network learned of the transaction and had Sheldon shot in front of a [[West Side, Chicago|West Side]] hotel, although he survived the incident.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=136}} In November 1927, Aiello organized machine-gun ambushes across from Lombardo's home and a cigar store frequented by Capone, but those plans were foiled after an anonymous tip led police to raid several addresses and arrest [[Milwaukee]] gunman Angelo La Mantio and four other Aiello gunmen. After the police discovered receipts for the apartments in La Mantio's pockets, he confessed that Aiello had hired him to kill Capone and Lombardo, leading the police to arrest Aiello himself and bring him to the South Clark Street police station.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=136}}<ref name="Keefe217">{{Harvnb|Keefe|2005|p=217}}.</ref> Upon learning of the arrest, Capone dispatched nearly two dozen gunmen to stand guard outside the station and await Aiello's release.{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=136}}<ref name="Sifakis77">{{Harvnb|Sifakis|2005|p=77}}.</ref> The men made no attempt to conceal their purpose there, and reporters and photographers rushed to the scene to observe Aiello's expected murder.<ref name="Lyle111260" /> When released, Aiello was given a police escort out of the station to safety. He later failed to make a court appearance after his attorney claimed he suffered a nervous breakdown. Aiello disappeared with some family members to [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], NJ, from whence he continued his campaign against Capone and Lombardo. ===Political alliances=== Chicago politicians had long been associated with questionable methods, and even newspaper circulation "wars", but the need for bootleggers to have protection in city hall introduced a far more serious level of violence and graft. Capone is generally seen as having an appreciable effect in bringing about the victory of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] mayoral candidate [[William Hale Thompson]], who had campaigned on a platform of not enforcing Prohibition and at one time hinted that he'd reopen illegal saloons.<ref name="big_bill_232_244">{{cite book |last=Wendt |first=Lloyd |title=Big Bill of Chicago |year=1953 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis, IN |pages=232β244 |author2=Herman Kogan}}</ref> Thompson allegedly accepted a contribution of $250,000 from Capone. Thompson beat [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate [[William Emmett Dever]] in the 1927 mayoral race by a relatively slim margin.<ref name="mayors">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Mayors |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/795.html |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=January 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101191619/http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/795.html |archive-date=January 1, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Big Bill Thompson |url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/media_detail/S0987 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=January 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203020602/http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/media_detail/S0987/ |archive-date=December 3, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> On the day of the so-called [[Pineapple Primary]] on April 10, 1928, voting booths were targeted by Capone's bomber, [[James Belcastro]], in wards where Thompson's opponents were thought to have support, causing the deaths of at least fifteen people. Belcastro was accused of the murder of lawyer Octavius Granady, an African-American who challenged Thompson's candidate for the Black vote, and was chased through the streets on polling day by cars of gunmen before being shot dead. Four policemen were among those charged along with Belcastro, but all charges were dropped after key witnesses recanted their statements. An indication of the attitude of local law enforcement toward Capone's organization came in 1931 when Belcastro was wounded in a shooting; police suggested to skeptical journalists that Belcastro was an independent operator.<ref>Sifakis, Carl, ''The Mafia Encyclopedia'', 2nd ed., Checkmark Books (1999), pp. 291, 292</ref><ref>Russo, Gus, ''The Outfit'', Bloomsbury (2001), pp. 38, 39</ref><ref>The Evening Independent β January 12, 1931, AP, Career of Chicago bomb king halted by bullets</ref><ref>The Afro American β October 12, 1929, Chicago (ANP)Police Named in Granady Killing,</ref><ref>The Outfit: The Role Of Chicago's Underworld In The Shaping Of Modern America. Gus Russo</ref> A 1929 report by ''[[The New York Times]]'' connected Capone to the 1926 murder of Assistant State Attorney William H. McSwiggin, the 1928 murders of chief investigator Ben Newmark and former mentor Frankie Yale.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/16/archives/capone-is-accused-of-many-murders-but-chicago-policy-decide.html|title=Capone is Accused of Many Murders; But Chicago Policy Decide Statement by Wife of His 'Executioner' Is Myth. Yale Named as One Victim; Receipt of Letters Threatening Exposure of 'Scarface Al' as the Slayer of McSwiggin Denied.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 16, 1929|access-date=January 23, 2021|archive-date=January 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123220510/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/16/archives/capone-is-accused-of-many-murders-but-chicago-policy-decide.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Saint Valentine's Day Massacre=== Capone was widely assumed to have been responsible for ordering the 1929 [[Saint Valentine's Day Massacre]], despite being at his Florida home at the time of the massacre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/chi-chicagodays-valentinesmassacre-story-story.html|title=The St. Valentine's Day Massacre|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=February 14, 2014|access-date=February 26, 2021|archive-date=November 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126220921/https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/chi-chicagodays-valentinesmassacre-story-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The massacre was an attempt to eliminate [[Bugs Moran]], head of the [[North Side Gang]], and the motivation for the plan may have been the fact that some expensive whisky illegally imported from Canada via the [[Detroit River]] had been hijacked while it was being transported to Cook County, Illinois.<ref>{{cite book |date=1995 |title=Rumrunning and the Roaring Twenties: Prohibition on the Michigan-Ontario Waterway |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FiZWrNjIPykC&q=al+capone+prohibition+smugglers+from+canada&pg=PA146 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |page=146 |isbn=0814325831 |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607163021/https://books.google.ca/books?id=FiZWrNjIPykC&pg=PA146 |url-status=live }}</ref> Moran was the last survivor of the North Side gunmen; his succession had come about because his similarly aggressive predecessors, Weiss and [[Vincent Drucci]], had been killed in the violence that followed the murder of original leader [[Dean O'Banion]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bugsmoran.net/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903184250/http://www.bugsmoran.net/northsiders/drucci.html|url-status=dead|title=George 'Bugs' Moran|archive-date=September 3, 2015|website=Bugs Moran}}</ref><ref>[http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id111.htm ''My Al Capone Museum''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706215903/http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id111.htm |date=July 6, 2014 }} [http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id111.htm "Vincent 'The Schemer' Drucci"], Mario Gomes, accessed 2/7/14</ref> To monitor their targets' habits and movements, Capone's men rented an apartment across from the trucking warehouse and garage at 2122 North Clark Street, which served as Moran's headquarters. On the morning of Thursday, February 14, 1929,<ref name=cdtsdim>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10609655/chicago_tribune/ |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |title=Slay doctor in massacre |date=February 15, 1929 |page=1 |access-date=October 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029012633/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10609655/chicago_tribune/ |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=tklocty>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14735930/st_valentunes_day/ |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |title=Trace killers; lid on city |date=February 16, 1929 |page=1 |access-date=October 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029012711/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14735930/st_valentunes_day/ |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Capone's lookouts signaled four gunmen disguised as police officers to initiate a "police raid". The ''faux'' police lined the seven victims along a wall and signaled for accomplices armed with machine guns and shotguns. Moran was not among the victims. Photos of the slain victims shocked the public and damaged Capone's image. Within days, Capone received a summons to testify before a Chicago grand jury on charges of federal Prohibition violations, but he claimed to be too unwell to attend.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|p=418}}</ref> In an effort to clean up his image, Capone donated to charities and sponsored a [[soup kitchen]] in Chicago during the Depression.<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/history/acoffee.html "Soup Kitchens"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109112005/https://www.ssa.gov/history/acoffee.html |date=November 9, 2018 }} ''Social Security Online History Page''.</ref><ref name=vintage>{{cite web|url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/06/06/gangster-al-capone-started-one-of-the-first-soup-kitchens-during-the-great-depression-for-the-unemployed-2/|title=During the Great Depression Al Capone started one of the first "Soup Kitchens" for the unemployed|publisher=thevintagenews.com|date=June 6, 2016|access-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327151411/https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/06/06/gangster-al-capone-started-one-of-the-first-soup-kitchens-during-the-great-depression-for-the-unemployed-2/|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre led to public disquiet about Thompson's alliance with Capone and was a factor in [[Anton J. Cermak]] winning the mayoral election on April 6, 1931.<ref name="articles.chicagotribune.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14735686/death_of_anton_cermak/|title=Cermak's death offers lesson in Chicago Way|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=March 7, 2013|author=Kass, John|access-date=October 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029012713/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14735686/death_of_anton_cermak/|archive-date=October 29, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Feud with Aiello ends=== Capone was primarily known for ordering other men to do his dirty work for him. In May 1929, one of Capone's [[bodyguard]]s, [[Frank Rio]], uncovered a plot by three of his men, Albert Anselmi, [[John Scalise]] and [[Joseph Giunta (mobster)|Joseph Giunta]], who had been persuaded by Aiello to depose Capone and take over the Chicago Outfit.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/alcapone00luci |url-access=registration |quote=al capone baseball bat. |title=Al Capone: A Biography |last=Iorizzo |first=Luciano J. |publisher=Greenwood |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/alcapone00luci/page/49 49]}}</ref> Capone later beat the men with a [[baseball bat]] and then [[gangland killing|ordered]] his bodyguards to shoot them, a scene that was included in the 1987 film ''[[The Untouchables (film)|The Untouchables]]''.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXJ_CwAAQBAJ&q=al+capone+baseball+bat&pg=PT184 |title=Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend |last=Bair |first=Deirdre |date=2016 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0385537162 |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162043/https://books.google.com/books?id=WXJ_CwAAQBAJ&q=al+capone+baseball+bat&pg=PT184 |url-status=live }}</ref> Deirdre Bair, along with writers and historians such as William Elliot Hazelgrove, have questioned the veracity of the claim.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWMqDwAAQBAJ&q=al+capone+baseball+bat&pg=PA46 |title=Al Capone and the 1933 World's Fair: The End of the Gangster Era in Chicago |last=Hazelgrove |first=William Elliott |date=2017 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1442272279 |pages=46β47 |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162045/https://books.google.com/books?id=PWMqDwAAQBAJ&q=al+capone+baseball+bat&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bair questioned why "three trained killers could sit quietly and let this happen", while Hazelgrove stated that Capone would have been "hard pressed to beat three men to death with a baseball bat" and that he would have instead let an enforcer perform the murders.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> However, despite claims that the story was first reported by author [[Walter Noble Burns]] in his 1931 book ''The One-way Ride: The red trail of Chicago gangland from prohibition to Jake Lingle'',<ref name=":0" /> Capone biographers [[Max Allan Collins]] and A. Brad Schwartz have found versions of the story in press coverage shortly after the crime. Collins and Schwartz suggest that similarities among reported versions of the story indicate a basis in truth and that the Outfit deliberately spread the tale to enhance Capone's fearsome reputation.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz">{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Max Allan|last2=Schwartz|first2=A. Brad|title=Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago|date=2018|publisher=William Morrow|location=New York|isbn=978-0062441942|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n38zDwAAQBAJ&q=scarface+and+the+untouchable|access-date=January 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126061325/https://books.google.com/books?id=n38zDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=scarface%20and%20the%20untouchable|archive-date=January 26, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Rp|xvi, 209β213, 565}} George Meyer, an associate of Capone's, also claimed to have witnessed both the planning of the murders and the event itself.<ref name="CAPONE"/> In 1930, upon learning of Aiello's continued plotting against him, Capone resolved to finally eliminate him.<ref name="Sifakis5" /> In the weeks before Aiello's death, Capone's men tracked him to [[Rochester, New York]], where he had connections through [[Buffalo crime family]] boss [[Stefano Magaddino]], and plotted to kill him there, but Aiello returned to Chicago before the plot could be executed.<ref name="Critchley295">{{cite book |last=Critchley |first=David |date=September 15, 2008 |title=The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891β1931 |location=New York City |publisher=[[Routledge]] |asin=B001OFIDHC |page=295}}</ref> Aiello, angst-ridden from the constant need to hide out and the killings of several of his men,{{sfn|Eghigian|2005|p=174}} set up residence in the Chicago apartment of Unione Siciliana treasurer Pasquale "Patsy Presto" Prestogiacomo at 205 N. Kolmar Ave.<ref name="Sifakis5" /><ref name="CT10291930">{{Cite news |title=3d [sic] Machine Gun Nest is Found in Aiello Killing |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=October 29, 1930 |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1930/10/29/page/8/article/3d-machine-gun-nest-is-found-in-aiello-killing |location=Chicago|page=8 |access-date=January 23, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216060953/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1930/10/29/page/8/article/3d-machine-gun-nest-is-found-in-aiello-killing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 23, upon exiting Prestogiacomo's building to enter a taxicab, a gunman in a second-floor window across the street started firing at Aiello with a submachine gun.<ref name="Sifakis5" /><ref name="CT10291930" /> Aiello was said to have been shot at least 13 times before he toppled off the building steps and moved around the corner,<ref>{{cite book |last=Parr |first=Amanda J. |date=2005 |title=The True and Complete Story of Machine Gun Jack McGurn |location=[[Leicester]] |publisher=Matador |isbn=1905237138 |page=258}}</ref> attempting to move out of the line of fire. Instead, he moved directly into the range of a second submachine gun positioned on the third floor of another apartment block, and was subsequently gunned down.<ref name="Sifakis5" /><ref name="CT10291930" /> === Federal intervention === In the wake of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, [[Walter A. Strong]], publisher of the ''[[Chicago Daily News]]'', asked his friend President [[Herbert Hoover]] for federal intervention to stem Chicago's lawlessness. He arranged a secret meeting at the White House, just two weeks after Hoover's inauguration. On March 19, 1929, Strong, joined by [[Frank J. Loesch|Frank Loesch]] of the [[Chicago Crime Commission]], and [[Laird Bell]], made their case to the President.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Myers|first1=William S.|title=The Hoover Administration: A Documented Narrative|last2=Newton|first2=Walter H.|publisher=Charles H. Scribner|year=1936|location=New York|pages=376}}</ref> In Hoover's 1952 ''Memoir,'' the former President reported that Strong argued "Chicago was in the hands of the gangsters, that the police and magistrates were completely under their control, β¦that the Federal government was the only force by which the city's ability to govern itself could be restored. At once I directed that all the Federal agencies concentrate upon Mr. Capone and his allies."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoover|first=Herbert|title=The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920β1933|publisher=The MacMillen Company|year=1952|location=New York|pages=276}}</ref> That meeting launched a multi-agency attack on Capone. Treasury and Justice Departments developed plans for income tax prosecutions against Chicago gangsters, and a small, elite squad of Prohibition Bureau agents (whose members included [[Eliot Ness]]) were deployed against bootleggers. In a city used to corruption, these lawmen were incorruptible. Charles Schwarz, a writer for the ''Chicago Daily News'', dubbed them [[Untouchables (law enforcement)|Untouchables]]. To support Federal efforts, Strong secretly used his newspaper's resources to gather and share intelligence on the Capone outfit.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Calder|first=James D.|title=The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives|publisher=Praeger|year=1993|location=Westport, CT}}</ref> ===Trials=== [[File:Al-capone-cell.jpg|thumb|Capone's cell at the now decommissioned [[Eastern State Penitentiary]] in [[Philadelphia]], where he spent about nine months starting in May 1929]] [[File:Al Capone in Florida.jpg|thumb|[[Mug shot]] of Capone in [[Miami]], in 1930]] On March 27, 1929, Capone was arrested by FBI agents as he left a Chicago courtroom after testifying to a grand jury that was investigating violations of federal prohibition laws. He was charged with contempt of court for feigning illness to avoid an earlier appearance.<ref name=fbi>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone |title=Al Capone |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |access-date=April 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303162952/https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> On May 16, 1929, Capone was arrested in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, for carrying a concealed weapon. On May 17, 1929, Capone was indicted by a grand jury and a trial was held before Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge John E Walsh. Following the entering of a guilty plea by his attorney, Capone was sentenced to a prison term of one year.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schoenberg |first1=Robert J |title=Mr Capone |date=1992 |publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc |location=New York |isbn=0688089410 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mrcapone00robe/page/238 238] |url=https://archive.org/details/mrcapone00robe/page/238}}</ref> On August 8, 1929, Capone was transferred to Philadelphia's [[Eastern State Penitentiary]]. A week after his release in March 1930, Capone was listed as the number one "Public Enemy" on the unofficial Chicago Crime Commission's widely publicized list.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/05/28/defending-al-capone |title=Defending Al Capone |work=The Marshall Project |access-date=June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827003135/https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/05/28/defending-al-capone |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In April 1930, Capone was arrested on [[Vagrancy#United States|vagrancy]] charges when visiting Miami Beach; the governor had ordered sheriffs to run him out of the state. Capone claimed that Miami police had refused him food and water and threatened to arrest his family. He was charged with [[perjury]] for making these statements, but was acquitted after a three-day trial in July.<ref>{{cite web |author=Luisa Yanez, The Miami Herald |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-09-27/news/fl-al-capone-trial-20100927_1_gangster-al-capone-alphonse-capone-mock-trial |title=Gangster Al Capone's 1930 trial to return to Miami court β Sun Sentinel |publisher=Articles.sun-sentinel.com |date=September 27, 2010 |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714183531/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-09-27/news/fl-al-capone-trial-20100927_1_gangster-al-capone-alphonse-capone-mock-trial |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In September, a Chicago judge issued a warrant for Capone's arrest on charges of vagrancy and then used the publicity to run against Thompson in the Republican primary.<ref>Reading Eagle β September 17, 1930, Gang leaders face arrest,</ref><ref>''Al Capone: A Biography'' By Luciano J. Iorizzo pp. 62β63</ref> In February 1931, Capone was tried on the contempt of court charge. In court, Judge [[James Herbert Wilkerson]] intervened to reinforce questioning of Capone's doctor by the prosecutor. Wilkerson sentenced Capone to six months, but he remained free while on appeal of the contempt conviction.<ref>The Pittsburgh Press β February 27, 1931</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|p=419}}</ref> In February 1930, Capone's organization was linked to the murder of Julius Rosenheim, who served as a police [[informant]] in the Chicago Outfit for 20 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/02/archives/informer-is-slain-by-chicago-gunmen-julius-rosenheim-in-police-pay.html|title=Informer is Slain by Chicago Gunmen; Julius Rosenheim, in Police Pay 20 Years, Is Shot Down Near His Home. Revenge Believed Motive, Two Members of the Capone Gang Are Arrested and Bullets Will Be Compared. Men Kill Him and Flee.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 2, 1930|access-date=January 23, 2021|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128215706/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/02/archives/informer-is-slain-by-chicago-gunmen-julius-rosenheim-in-police-pay.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Tax evasion=== {{Wikisource|Portal:IRS investigation of Al Capone|IRS investigation of Al Capone}} [[File:Caponeβs criminal record in 1932.jpg|thumb|Capone's [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] criminal record in 1932, showing most of his criminal charges were discharged or dismissed]] [[United States Assistant Attorney General|Assistant Attorney General]] [[Mabel Walker Willebrandt]] is said to have originated the tactic of charging obviously wealthy crime figures with federal [[tax evasion]] on the basis of their luxurious lifestyles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bryson |first=Bill |year=2013 |title=One Summer, America, 1927 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0375434327 |pages=116β117}}</ref> In 1927, the Supreme Court ruled in ''[[United States v. Sullivan]]'' that the approach was legally sound: illegally earned income was subject to income tax.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|p=224}}</ref> The key to Capone's conviction on tax charges was not his spending, but proving his income, and the most valuable evidence in that regard originated in his offer to pay tax. Ralph, his brother and a gangster in his own right, was tried for tax evasion in 1930. Ralph spent the next 18 months in prison after being convicted in a two-week trial over which Wilkerson presided.<ref>''Al Capone: Chicago's King of Crime'', by Nate Hendley, p. 108</ref> Seeking to avoid the same fate, Al Capone ordered his lawyer to regularize his tax position, and although it was not done, his lawyer made crucial admissions when stating the income that Capone was willing to pay tax on for various years, admitting income of $100,000 for 1928 and 1929, for instance. Hence, without any investigation, the government had been given a letter from a lawyer acting for Capone conceding his large taxable income for certain years he had paid no tax on. On March 13, 1931, Capone was charged with [[income tax evasion]] for 1924, in a secret grand jury. On June 5, 1931, Capone was indicted by a federal grand jury on 22 counts of income tax evasion from 1925 through 1929; he was released on $50,000 bail.<ref name=scarfacecrusaders/> Capone was then indicted on 5,000 violations of the [[Volstead Act]] (Prohibition laws).<ref name="Collins & Schwartz"/>{{Rp|385β421, 493β496}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Okrent |first=Daniel |title=Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition |url=https://archive.org/details/lastcal_okr_2010_00_9047 |url-access=registration |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |year=2010 |isbn=978-0743277044 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lastcal_okr_2010_00_9047/page/136 136], 345}}</ref><ref name=scarfacecrusaders>{{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Dennis |title=Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone |publisher=[[Southern Illinois University Press]] |location=Chicago |year=2010 |isbn=978-0809330041 |pages=159β164}}</ref> On June 16, 1931, at the [[Chicago Federal Building]] in the courtroom of Wilkerson, Capone pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and the 5,000 Volstead Act violations as part of a {{frac|2|1|2}}-year prison sentence [[plea bargain]]. However, on July 30, 1931, Wilkerson refused to honor the plea bargain, and Capone's counsel rescinded the guilty pleas.<ref name=scarfacecrusaders/> On the second day of the trial, Wilkerson deemed that the 1930 letter to federal authorities could be admitted into evidence, overruling objections that a lawyer could not confess for his client.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id146.htm |title=Al Capone's tax trial and downfall |publisher=Myalcaponemuseum.com |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811022004/http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id146.htm |archive-date=August 11, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponeaccount.html |title=Al Capone Trial (1931): An Account by Douglas O. Linder (2011) |publisher=Law2.umkc.edu |access-date=August 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819061348/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponeaccount.html |archive-date=August 19, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponechrono.html Al Capone Trial: A Chronology] Daniel M. Porazzo. Retrieved June 30, 2014. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031183951/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponechrono.html |date=October 31, 2014}}</ref> Wilkerson later tried Capone only on the income tax evasion charges as he determined they took precedence over the Volstead Act charges.<ref name=scarfacecrusaders/> Much was later made of other evidence, such as witnesses and ledgers, but these strongly implied Capone's control rather than stating it. Capone's lawyers, who had relied on the plea bargain Wilkerson refused to honor and therefore had mere hours to prepare for the trial, ran a weak defense focused on claiming that essentially all his income was lost to gambling.<ref name=Iorizzo>{{cite book|first1=Luciano J.|last1=Iorizzo|title=Al Capone: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/alcapone00luci|url-access=registration|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2003|isbn=978-0313323171|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alcapone00luci/page/81 81]β82|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> This would have been irrelevant regardless, since gambling losses can only be subtracted from gambling winnings, but it was further undercut by Capone's expenses, which were well beyond what his claimed income could support; Wilkerson allowed Capone's spending to be presented at very great length.<ref name=Iorizzo /> The government charged Capone with evasion of $215,000 in taxes on a total income of $1,038,654, during the five-year period.<ref name=scarfacecrusaders/> Capone was convicted on five counts of income tax evasion on October 17, 1931,<ref name="brit">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Al-Capone|title=Al Capone β American criminal|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=January 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605201038/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Al-Capone|archive-date=June 5, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ctcvcapn>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14736139/capone_convicted/ |newspaper=Chicago Sunday Tribune |last=Kinsley |first=Philip |title=U.S. jury convicts Capone |date=October 19, 1931 |page=1 |access-date=October 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029065128/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14736139/capone_convicted/ |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ccotevsr>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kRpWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6214%2C983876 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Capone convicted of tax evasion |date=October 18, 1931 |page=1 |access-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162042/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kRpWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6214%2C983876 |url-status=live }}</ref> and was sentenced a week later to 11 years in federal prison, fined $50,000 plus $7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes.<ref name=csenelv>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTdWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5020%2C6914884 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |last=Hackler |first=Victor |title=Capone sentenced 11 years, fined $50,000 |date=October 24, 1931 |page=1 |access-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162148/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTdWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5020%2C6914884 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=cpjlpnx>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14342512/1931_10_24_capone_sentenced_front_page/ |newspaper=Chicago Sunday Tribune |title=Capone in jail; prison next |date=October 25, 1931 |page=1 |access-date=October 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029065305/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14342512/1931_10_24_capone_sentenced_front_page/ |archive-date=October 29, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ckmappl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f5kRAAAAIBAJ&pg=2892%2C4301 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |last=Brennan |first=Ray |title=Capone kept until Monday for appeal |date=October 25, 1931 |page=1 |access-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162048/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f5kRAAAAIBAJ&pg=2892%2C4301 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="court">{{cite web|title=Visitors to the Court-Historic Trials |publisher=US District Court-Northern District of Illinois |access-date=February 10, 2011 |url=http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/home/CourtHouseVisitors.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721065913/http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/home/CourtHouseVisitors.aspx |archive-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref> The contempt of court sentence was served concurrently.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponeverdict.html |title=Selected Documents: Jury Verdict Form (October 17, 1931) |work=Al Capone Trial |first=Douglas O. |last=Linder |publisher=University of MissouriβKansas City |access-date=October 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827060820/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/capone/caponeverdict.html |archive-date=August 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|p=484}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|pp=486β487}}</ref> New lawyers hired to represent Capone were Washington-based tax experts. They filed a writ of ''[[Habeas corpus in the United States|habeas corpus]]'' based on a Supreme Court ruling that tax evasion was not fraud, which apparently meant that Capone had been convicted on charges relating to years that were actually outside the time limit for prosecution. However, a judge interpreted the law so that the time that Capone had spent in Miami was subtracted from the age of the offences, thereby denying the appeal of both Capone's conviction and sentence.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|p=516}}</ref> ===Imprisonment=== [[File:Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary - Cell 181 - Al Capone.jpg|thumb|Cell 181 in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary where Capone was imprisoned]] [[File:Acaponeh.jpg|thumb|Mug shot of Capone at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, 1934]] Capone was sent to [[United States Penitentiary, Atlanta|Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary]] in May 1932, aged 33. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with [[syphilis]] and [[gonorrhea]]. He was also experiencing withdrawal symptoms from cocaine addiction, the use of which had perforated his nasal septum. Capone was competent at his prison job of stitching soles on shoes for eight hours a day, but his letters were barely coherent. He was seen as a weak personality, and so out of his depth dealing with bullying at the hands of fellow inmates that his cellmate, seasoned convict [[Morris Rudensky|Red Rudensky]], feared that Capone would have a breakdown. Rudensky was formerly a small-time criminal associated with the Capone gang and found himself becoming a protector for Capone. The conspicuous protection by Rudensky and other prisoners drew accusations from less friendly inmates and fueled suspicion that Capone was receiving special treatment. No solid evidence ever emerged, but it formed part of the rationale for moving Capone to the recently opened [[Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary]] off the coast of San Francisco, in August 1934.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergreen|1994|pp=511β514, 519β521}}</ref> On June 23, 1936, Capone was stabbed and superficially wounded by fellow Alcatraz inmate [[James C. Lucas]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19360624&id=otNHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3154,2776397 |title=Al Capone Knifed in Prison Tussle |newspaper=The Free Lance-Star |date=June 24, 1936 |access-date=June 28, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104162111/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19360624&id=otNHAAAAIBAJ&pg=3154%2C2776397 |url-status=live }}</ref> Due to his good behavior, Capone was permitted to play banjo in the Alcatraz prison band, the Rock Islanders, which gave regular Sunday concerts for other inmates.<ref>{{cite book |title= A History of Alcatraz Island: 1853β2008|last= Wellman |first= Gregory L. |year=2008 |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |isbn= 978-0738558158|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1duAUPaHSgcC&q=al+capone+%22the+rock+islanders%22&pg=PA65]}}</ref> Capone also transcribed the song "[[Madonna Mia]]" creating his own arrangement as a tribute to his wife Mae.<ref name="straitstimes">{{cite news | url = http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_364785.html | title = Al Capone's secret song | date = April 17, 2009 | access-date = April 17, 2009 | agency = Associated Press | publisher = The Straits Times | archive-date = April 21, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090421115814/http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_364785.html | url-status = live }}</ref> [[File:Capone Alcatraz.jpg|thumb|Al Capone's inmate file from Alcatraz Prison]] At Alcatraz, Capone's decline became increasingly evident, as [[neurosyphilis]] progressively eroded his mental faculties; his formal diagnosis of syphilis of the brain was made in February 1938.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/infectious-disease-sprung-al-capone-alcatraz |title=The infectious disease that sprung Al Capone from Alcatraz |first=Howard |last=Markel |author-link=Howard Markel |date=January 25, 2017 |access-date=November 22, 2019 |publisher=PBS News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801113658/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/infectious-disease-sprung-al-capone-alcatraz |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> He spent the last year of his Alcatraz sentence in the hospital section, confused and disoriented.<ref name="ch11">[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/chapter_11.html Al Capone β The Final Chapter] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531021947/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/chapter_11.html |date=May 31, 2008}}.</ref> Capone completed his term in Alcatraz on January 6, 1939, and was transferred to the [[Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island|Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island]] in California to serve out his sentence for [[contempt of court]].<ref>J. Campbell Bruce (2005), ''Escape from Alcatraz'', Random House Digital, Inc., p. 32.</ref> He was [[Federal parole in the United States|paroled]] on November 16, 1939, after his wife Mae appealed to the court, based on his reduced mental capabilities.<ref name=Penicillin>{{cite news |url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/27/al-capone-penicillin/ |title=Legendary Gangster Al Capone was one of the First Recipients of Penicillin in History |first=Taryn |last=Smee |date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=November 22, 2019 |work=The Vintage News |archive-date=May 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526175451/https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/27/al-capone-penicillin/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1985306_1985308_1985180,00.html|last=Webley|first=Kayla|title=Top 10 Parolees|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time.com]]|date=April 28, 2010|access-date=July 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812094037/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1985306_1985308_1985180,00.html|archive-date=August 12, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page