Monday, April 6, 2009

Al Capone

Born January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, Alphonsus Capone's familial roots could be traced to Italy (Al Capone: Public Enemy Number One 1). Quitting school in the sixth grade he took up the ways of the streets with his younger brother Ralph. With the arrival of prohibition in 1920, Al's intelligence, strong will, and connections with a man named Torrio put him at the top of the ladder in the gangster world and made his name renown nationwide. Inevitably, the law and Capone would meet. The government had two choices in bringing this infamous crook to justice: upon charges of tax evasion, or on evidence of violation of prohibition regulations. Because neither of these charges could be easily proved upon, the government spent thousands of dollars and countless man-hours to find ample evidence to incarcerate him. The in-depth prosecution of Al Capone produced mild results and only partially and improperly punished an infamous Chicago ringleader.

Prohibition in the 1920's and 1930's brought about a profitable source of income to all those willing and financially capable. At the top of this list lies a man by the name of Johnny Torrio. This crime leader's decision in the 1920Тs to take on an early retirement left Al with an empire of breweries and gambling halls (Power 2). His empire quickly took over underground Chicago, drawing a taxable income of $1,038,000 over a six-year period and accumulating and estimated $60,000,000 in his lifetime (Runyon 226). As Capone's success grew, his breweries and gambling halls multiplied and business thrived. It was said that, "In an era where most of the adult population drank bootleg alcohol, the bootlegger seemed almost respectable."(Power 2) Though his name rang harmoniously in the ears of most of the Chicago population, he struck a bad note in the ears of the government. This disapproval soon gave birth to a group of new agents called the untouchables (Cobbler 271). The arrival of these top-notch agents marked the beginning of the end for a well-to-do Al Capone.

In 1928, U.S. District Attorney George E. Johnson was charged with the task of halting Al Capone's massive bootlegging business and bringing him to justice on counts of violation of the Volstead Act. Acquiring honest, straight help in Chicago would be a task, but in the end a man by the name of Eliot Ness was found to head up operations. It would be Ness who would create the group of nine honest agents called the untouchables. The untouchables were so titled because they had to be exactly what they were called. Their impermeability was first and foremost a requirement for this job. In a time when prohibition enforcement was frowned upon even by most honest citizens, the untouchables were in an undesirable position. Soon after their formation, they began reeking havoc upon Capone's businesses. Capone responded though, and began reinforcing his breweries with steel doors and constructing special escape routes. In turn, Ness acquired a 10-ton truck outfitted with steel and special ladders to halt those people trying to escape from the roof. By the end of prohibition, the untouchables had single handedly had a greater impact on bootlegging in Chicago than the whole Chicago police force (Eliot Ness: The Man Behind the Myth 5).

One of Capone's most famous tribulations was the St. Valentine's Day massacre. It has been called "the most spectacular mob hit in gangland history" and is only appropriately blamed on likely the most spectacular crime czar in U.S. history (The St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1). This attack was brilliantly planned, aiming to deceive fellow bootleggers, Capone's selected few dressed as police officers and arrived at a planned meeting for trade of illegal Canadian whiskey. The target of the sting was likely crime boss Bugs Moran, as he was due to be at the meeting but was running late from a previous engagement. In the end, seven men were strewn across the floor lying in pools of blood. Moran later said, "Only Capone kills guys like that!" Humorously, Capone's comment was "the only man who kills like that is Bugs Moran" Capone's alibi was credible and no one was ever apprehended in the investigation that followed the homicide (The St. Valentines Day Massacre 3).

Capone's gain in publicity through the St. Valentine's Day Massacre set a fire under president Herbert Hoover, who quickly pressured Andrew Mellon, current secretary of Treasury, to jumpstart the IRS's battle against Capone (Kobler 270). Hoover's 1930 release of the F.B.I.'s most wanted list revealed Capone as "Public Enemy Number One" Upon further inspection by the IRS, it was found that Capone had never filed a tax return in his life. This lead to Capone's prosecution for conspiracy to violate the Volstead act (Kobler 271). Capone's failure to pay tax on his illegal income would in the end mark his downfall, but he persisted, "The income tax law is a lot of bunk. The government can't collect legal taxes from illegal money."(Kobler 275) The government's task, to put it simply, was merely to prove that his net worth and net expenditures were more than his reported net income. At first, Capone claimed a modest salary of $75 per week. Capone's lavish lifestyle made it obvious that something wasn't adding up. Investigators searched Chicago and New York for shops and other establishments with which Capone might have dealt. This initial investigation turned up bills like his phone bills which totaled $39,000, and bills from parties he had thrown costing three and four thousand dollars. Altogether, revenue detectives turned up about $165,000 of taxable income. This number was miniscule in comparison to the millions that flowed through Capone's hands every year (Kobler 278).

Capone's power in Chicago seemed never ending. His ability to escape justice seemed the same. Once in 1928, Capone was even propositioned by the mayor of Chicago to help set the stage for a straight election. In spite of his arrogance, Capone helped clean out some fellow gangsters and gave Chicago its first clean election in some forty years (Power). Many people of his time admired Capone, as he could be found attending many charity events and spending his lavish salary on soup kitchens for the needy. This faзade was eventually broken down and some of Capone's scandalous dealings were exposed before a judge. Capone and sixty-eight members of his gang were charged with approximately 5,000 separate violations of the Volstead act. In closing Capone was sentenced to 11 years in jail and forced to pay $80,000 to the government (Public Enemy #1). Al Capone's life came to a close on January 25, 1947 due to cardiac arrest.

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