Al Capone, known as Snorky or the “Big Fellow,” rose to prominence as one of Chicago’s most violent and lucrative crime bosses in American history. Like John Gotti and Vito Genovese, Capone’s name became as well known as Babe Ruth’s throughout the land of opportunity.
Al Capone, center, in federal court in Chicago during his 1931 tax-evasion trial, with lawyers Michael Ahern, left, and Albert Fink. Colorized by Frederick Duriez.
Born and raised in New York, Capone life’s reads like a Hollywood movie, probably because it became one. Iconic names like “Five Points,” “The Untouchables,” and “Alcatraz '' dot his biography. He became the first “Public Enemy Number One” and one of the first to receive penicillin. Here’s a glimpse into the infamously savage mob boss.
Coming Up
From bar bouncer to Chicago crime lord. (Flickr)
Capone started as a member of multiple Brooklyn gangs, where he was born and raised. The South Brooklyn Rippers, Junior Forty Thieves, James Street Boys gang, and Five Point Gang, made up his criminal resumé at that point. Eventually, his mob boss mentor Johnny Torrio lured him from New York to Chicago. History cites two theories for that portentous move.
Chicago Prince
Capone painted himself as Robin Hood in suit with a gun. "I'm just a businessman, giving the people what they want," he declared. "All I do is satisfy a public demand."
One theory suggests that Capone was escaping New York after assaulting a rival gang named the White Hand. In 1909, top boss Frankie Yale, a.k.a. Frank Uale supposedly sent Capone to work for the “Chicago Outfit” kingpin James "Big Jim" Colosimo. The other speculation alleges that Capone moved with Torrio to work as his top lieutenant. Either way, shortly after their arrival in Chicago, “Big Jim” got whacked and Torrio rose to power.
The Original Scarface
“A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further.†(Getty)
After yet another shooting that saw Torrio badly wounded, eventually imprisoned before retiring, Capone became the Chicago Outfit’s top dog. The media and others called him Scarface, a name he despised, due to three prominent scars on his face. As the story goes, Capone either insulted a mob boss’s sister or received his trademark scars from two men who undoubtedly ended up at the bottom of a river. Once Kingpin, Capone exponentially grew the organization to staggering heights.
Windy City Kingpin
“In this life all that I have is my word and my balls and I do not break them for nobody.â€
By the height of Capone’s reign, the Chicago Outfit grossed over $100,000 million a year during the ‘20s! After adjusting for inflation, that sum equals a mind-boggling $1,345,975,000 of which Capone famously paid almost no taxes on, much to his detriment. Most of that money came from bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, racketeering, among many other crimes. During Capone’s 1931 trial, the Chicago Chief of police claimed that Capone owned 60% of the police force, many of whom were directly involved in bootlegging and other crimes.
Untouchables Myth Vs. Truth
“I have built my organization upon fear.†(Wikipedia Commons)
Capone so indelibly etched his name in American history that Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro starred in a movie surrounding the mob lord’s downfall. While it’s true that Eliot Ness and his small group of Prohibition agents did eschew the same bribes that ensnared many Chicago officers, they weren’t instrumental in bringing down Chicago’s most notorious criminal. However, the scene where Robert De Niro ruthlessly beats a treacherous member of his organization was actually watered down!
According to John Kobler, author of Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone, the mobster “walked the length of the table and halted behind the first guest of honor. With both hands he lifted the bat and slammed it down full force. Slowly, methodically, he struck again and again, breaking bones in the man’s shoulders, arms and chest. He moved to the next man and, when he had reduced him to mangled flesh and bone, to the third. One of the bodyguards then fetched his revolver from the checkroom and shot each man in the back of the head.”
An Alcatraz and Syphilis Finish
“I would rather be rich affluent and greedy and go to hell when I die, than live in poverty on this earth.â€
As many know, Capone was eventually indicted for tax evasion rather than his mountainous body count. At President Hoover’s insistence, federal officers brought the crime lord down by any means necessary. The judge also intervened by blocking an agreement that would have seen Capone only serve 2.5 years. Instead, he was sentenced to 11 years and paid more than $250,000 in court fines and back taxes.
Likely for the publicity, Capone was eventually sent to Alcatraz prison where he played in the band. Other than a minor knifing in the shower, Capone served his time quietly. Perhaps that was due to him steadily losing his mind due to syphilis. By the end, one psychiatric evaluation put his mental capacity at the level of a 12-year-old. He became only one of the earliest recipients of penicillin but it was too late. He died, living off $600 a week and probably watching cartoons at the age of 48.
