Al Capone grew up in New York and became involved in a gang very early in his life. Later on he became a very popular mob leader. For all the crimes he committed, he was taken to jail for not paying his taxes. He Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family. He quit school after sixth grade and became a member of a street gang that was lead by Johnny Torrio. About 1920, Capone went to Chicago and met up with Torrio, who had become a lieutenant in the Colosimo mob. The enactment of the Prohibition Amendment opened a way for criminals to make money by brewing and distributing beer and liquor.
Torrio and Capone intended to take full advantage of the opportunities. Torrio gained full leadership of the gang after Big Jim Colosimo died and Capone gained experience as his partner. In 1925, Capone became the boss when Torrio, was seriously injured in an assassination attempt, surrendered control and retired in Brooklyn. Capone’s fearless reputation grew as rival gangs were eliminated and the Capone mob got bigger and took over the suburb of Cicero. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on February 14, 1929, was when seven members of the “Bugs” Moran mob were machine-gunned in a garage by rivals posing as police.
The massacre was attached to the Capone mob, although Al was in Florida while all of this happened. The investigation of Al Capone arose because he didn’t appear before a Federal Grand Jury on March 12, 1929, in response to a subpoena. On March 11, his lawyer asked to postpone the trial, because a doctor’s affidavit was submitted on March 5, that said he had been suffering from bronchial pneumonia in Florida and had been confined to bed from January 13 to February 23, and would be bad for Capone’s health to travel to Chicago.
His appearance date before the Grand Jury was re-set for March 20. The Bureau of Investigation Agents obtained statements that said that Capone had attended race tracks in Miami, and that he made a plane trip to Bimini and a cruise to Nassau. He had been interviewed at the office of the Dade County Solicitor and that he appeared in good health. Capone appeared before the Federal Grand Jury on March 20, 1929, and finished his testimony on March 27. After that he was arrested by Agents for Contempt of Court and the penalty would be one year and a $1,000 fine.
He posted a $5,000 bond and was released. On May 17, 1929, Capone and his bodyguard were arrested in Philadelphia for carrying deadly weapons. They were sentenced to one year each, but Capone was released in nine months, on March 17, 1930, for good behavior. On February 28, 1936, Capone was sentenced to six months in Cook County Jail on a Contempt of Court charge. Meanwhile, the U. S. Treasury Department found evidence in tax evasion charges on Al Capone’s brother Ralph “Bottles” Capone, Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik, Frank Nitti, and other mobsters.
On October 18,1931, Capone was convicted after trial, and on November 24, was sentenced to eleven years in Federal prison, fined $50,000 and charged $7,692 for court costs in addition to $215,000 due back on taxes. While waiting for the results of the appeals, Capone was sent to Cook County Jail. After his appeals were denied, he entered the U. S. Penitentiary at Atlanta and then on to Alcatrez. On November 16, 1939, Al Capone was released, after serving seven years six months and fifteen days, and had paid all fines and back taxes.
During his confinement, he had gotten syphilis and and then suffered from paresis. Immediately after he was released he went to the Baltimore hospital for brain treatment, and then went to his Florida home, an estate on Palm Island in Biscayne Bay near Miami, which he had purchased in 1928. By 1946, Capone had the mentality of a twelve-year-old. He lived in a secluded atmosphere, with his wife and immediate family, until he died of a stroke and pneumonia on January 25, 1947.
