Al CaponeEssay Preview: Al CaponeReport this essayAl Capone“When I sell liquor, they call it bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on silver trays on Lake Shore Drive, they call it hospitality.”-Al Capone [Woog, 25]
Al Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters during the 1920s. He was a self-made business man. He had a ready smile and a quick handshake, which if you did not play your cards right, could turn out to be fatal. It took 500 gangland murders to make Capone the boss of Chicago. He was public enemy number one. Capone single handedly gave Chicago the nickname “The Lawless City.”
Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 17, 1899. He grew up in a very rough neighborhood and became a part of two gangs during this time. He was a very bright kid, yet he quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. He worked several jobs, such as a clerk at a candy store and a pin boy at a bowling alley, in between scams.
After a while he became part of the well known Five Points gang and worked for the fellow gangsters. While he was working one night as a bouncer at the Harvard Inn, he insulted a patron and her brother attacked Capone leaving him with his infamous facial scars which later gave him his nickname “Scarface.”
In 1918, Capone met a girl named Mary Coughlin who gave birth to their son Albert “Sonny” Francis. Coughlin and Capone married later that year.He was first arrested on a disorderly conduct charge while working for fellow gangster Frankie Yale. At this time he also murdered two men to prove his willingness to kill, but he was not tried because of the gangland etiquette of “silence.” Capone was let off of all charges due to lack of proof. After Capone hospitalized a rival gang member, Yale sent him to Chicago until things blew over. He arrived there in 1919.
When Capone settled into Chicago, Yale sent him to work for his old mentor, John Torrio. Once Torrio realized Capones potential, he took him under his wing and let Capone become his partner in the bootlegging business. By 1922, Capone was Torrios number two man and was his partner in everything. Torrio was shot by rival gang members and forced to leave Chicago, so naturally Capone made himself boss. Capone was well liked and trusted by his men and soon called “The Big Fellow.” He quickly proved that he was much better at running the show than Torrio when he was reported to be bringing in a $100,000,000 income each year. He had everything to do with anything that involved gambling, sex, or alcohol.
During the War it was Capone who made a lot of money and put a lot of women under the impression that they owed him as much as they owed their husbands, a charge that would have angered many of them in the early 1900s. One of two things the guys at Capone’s firm knew, however, was that he had a large amount of money to spend on broglies and booze-taking all the time. This led in the early 1900s to the fact that he wanted his men, as much as he wanted, to be men. One of these men was a very attractive blonde boy, who had a pretty face, great hands, and a long gray hair. When he was 15 years old, Capone told him that he’d get to marry his friend, the famous young man Paul G. Jorgensen, who had a son named Robert B. Gennet, and also that Gennet’s son was not a man. Now, Gennet’s reputation had been destroyed, so he’d just be known as a bad ass and have a reputation which, if it weren’t for him, would kill him. The men at Capone’s firm were all the same: they never talked about the money, they never drank, and as long as Capone was good & loyal, they told him he did not owe them anything. In fact, Capone knew the money was coming, and when Torrio came along and bought him the house for a dollar, he bought a large percentage of it off Capone’s men. When Torrio died in 1924 Capone was given control of all the brothel operations. Capone would have it that he was the first man to make a full $100,000,000 income every year from the money he made. And he kept that money. It was very profitable, he was well paid, and while he never had a real break since he retired, he had a lot of money to sell in order to gain more. And with that money he had to make hundreds of millions every year, which he paid for by buying off his men. That same year, Torrio asked the same question who, or what, would be the new head of the mafia: Céliu, a good-natured young man who loved to tell his stories ͼJ.R. Smith. The new head of the mafia would have it that Torrio was the second man to make a full $100,000,000 income every year. Capno’s money was making his profits and he couldn’t do it without being asked the same question: he wants to be the new head of the mafia. Torrio didn’t like
During the War it was Capone who made a lot of money and put a lot of women under the impression that they owed him as much as they owed their husbands, a charge that would have angered many of them in the early 1900s. One of two things the guys at Capone’s firm knew, however, was that he had a large amount of money to spend on broglies and booze-taking all the time. This led in the early 1900s to the fact that he wanted his men, as much as he wanted, to be men. One of these men was a very attractive blonde boy, who had a pretty face, great hands, and a long gray hair. When he was 15 years old, Capone told him that he’d get to marry his friend, the famous young man Paul G. Jorgensen, who had a son named Robert B. Gennet, and also that Gennet’s son was not a man. Now, Gennet’s reputation had been destroyed, so he’d just be known as a bad ass and have a reputation which, if it weren’t for him, would kill him. The men at Capone’s firm were all the same: they never talked about the money, they never drank, and as long as Capone was good & loyal, they told him he did not owe them anything. In fact, Capone knew the money was coming, and when Torrio came along and bought him the house for a dollar, he bought a large percentage of it off Capone’s men. When Torrio died in 1924 Capone was given control of all the brothel operations. Capone would have it that he was the first man to make a full $100,000,000 income every year from the money he made. And he kept that money. It was very profitable, he was well paid, and while he never had a real break since he retired, he had a lot of money to sell in order to gain more. And with that money he had to make hundreds of millions every year, which he paid for by buying off his men. That same year, Torrio asked the same question who, or what, would be the new head of the mafia: Céliu, a good-natured young man who loved to tell his stories ͼJ.R. Smith. The new head of the mafia would have it that Torrio was the second man to make a full $100,000,000 income every year. Capno’s money was making his profits and he couldn’t do it without being asked the same question: he wants to be the new head of the mafia. Torrio didn’t like
Once Capone had everything he wanted in Chicago, he realized he was highly disliked by the whole country because he began to hear comments on the street and in the newspapers. Although he often did business with Capone, the mayor William “Big Bull” Hale Thompson, wanted Capone out of Chicago because Capone was bad for Thompsons political image. So the mayor hired a new police chief to run Capone out of the city, and he personally saw Capone out of the city. Capone looked all over for a new location and he decided to move to an estate in Palm Island, Florida in 1928.
Once Capone was out of the city, attempts on Capones life were becoming regular but he had connections with newspapers and policemen so he quickly found out about the plots. He, on the other hand, was very discrete and clever about his murders. He would always have an alibi, because he himself would rarely do the murdering.
His most notorious murder was the St. Valentines Day massacre. On February 14, 1928, four of Capones men entered a garage of the Main Liquor warehouse for bootlegger George “Bugs” Morans North Side Gang. When the men entered the garage two of Capones men were dressed as police officers and therefore the North Side Gang dropped their weapons. When they did Capones gang murdered them with two shotguns and two machine guns, putting over 150 bullets into the men. As usual after the massacre, Capone had an alibi; he was in Florida the day of the murder.
Although Capone was behind numerous deaths and even killed with his own hands, he treated people fairly and was very generous. He became known for being violent but also loyal and honest towards fellow citizens. He was actually one of the first people to open soup kitchens after the 1929 stock market crash. He also had the merchants give the needy food and clothes at his expense.
Capone was never tried for most of his crimes. He was arrested in 1926 for murdering three people, but only spent one night in jail due to lack of evidence. He first served time in prison in 1929 for carrying a gun.
In 1931 Capone was indicted for income tax evasion for the years 1925-1929. He was also charged with misdemeanor of failing to file tax returns for the years 1928 and 1929. The government said that Capone owed around $215,000 in taxes from gambling profits. Later a third indictment was added which charged him with conspiracy to violate prohibition laws from 1922-1931. At first Capone pleaded guilty to all three charges hoping to get a plea bargain, but the judge, James Wilkerson, would not make any deals. Later Capone pleaded not guilty and was planning to bribe the jury, but Judge Wilkerson changed the jury panel at the last minute.
The jury found Capone not guilty for eighteen of the twenty-three accounts. Judge Wilkerson sentenced him to ten years in a federal prison and also one year in a county jail. His fines totaled up to be around $50,000 and he also had to pay about $8,000 for prosecution