Al Capone, America’s most prominent Mafia figure in the 1920’s, also known as “Scarface” for a scar running down his left cheek. Capone didn’t hide in the shadows like most figures in such a shady occupation. He didn’t shy away from the camera, more like he welcomed it, and aimed to be seen by the public as a respectable businessman and a pillar of the community. Surprisingly, Capone wasn’t from a distinctly poor community, his father earned a living as a barber. Capone was introduced to the gang life by a friend and from there it all went downhill and into the life of a gangster.
Al Capone wasn’t from a well to do family but he wasn’t, by any means, poor. His father was one of the thousands of Italian immigrants that came to the US, he was thirty years of age, educated, from the Naples and earned a living as a Barber. Capone’s mother was pregnant with him at the time and was taking care of his two brothers, two year old Vincenzo and infant Raffaele. Alphonese Capone was born on January 17, 1899. His family moved to an ethnically mixed neighborhood which equipped Capone with the means to run a criminal empire. Capone attended a Catholic school and suffered from a poor education and violence. At around this time he met his friend Johnny Torrio.
Torrio was a gangster who taught Capone the importance of maintaining a respectable front and on how to run a racketeering business. Torrio introduced Capone to the gang life where he joined Torrio’s gang, the James Street Boys gang, which later came to be known as the 5 Points gang. Capone, like most gangsters got in brawls and during a bar-fight he gets a cut across his left cheek from a razor or a blade and received the name Scarface for the scar that was left behind.
Torrio, in 1909...
... middle of paper ...
...out $32,488 in 1924. They charged Capone with 22 counts of tax evasion for $200,000. They discussed that if Capone pleaded guilty they would lighten the sentence to 2-5 years in prison. This agreement leaked out to the public and they were outraged. Capone knew he couldn’t escape with a light sentence. After nine hours and a jury change Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison with a $50,000 in fees and a court cost of $30,000. Bail was denied.
In August 1939 Capone was moved from Atlanta to Alcatraz in San Francisco. Capone’s health took a turn for the worst when he caught Tetiary Syphilis and became disoriented and confused. He was released after six and a half years on god behavior where he returned to Palm Island estate. His wife Mae took care of him until the end. Capone died on January 25, 1947 when he suffered from a cardiac arrest. He was 48 when he died.
It was at Alcatraz where he became good friends with Clarence Carnes. He was sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary three years later and the next year he was sent to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. He was finally released in 1965 after being in prison for a total of nine years.... ... middle of paper ...
The murders he committed showcased the power he had, and being convicted of tax evasion seemed like a joke. Although Al Capone was a ruthless gangster, there was a side to him that many still don’t know about; a kinder side. Al Capone’s family came with a wave of other Italian immigrants that migrated to the United States in the 1800’s. Most immigrants in that time were living in poverty and in very urban areas. Capone’s family lived in the heart of Brooklyn, but his father was a successful barber, which allowed them a slightly better lifestyle than most.
The New York Times writes, “Al Capone was found guilty here tonight on five of the twenty-three counts contained in the two indictments brought against him by the Federal Government for income tax evasion from 1924 to 1929,” (1). Capone was later sentenced to the Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May of 1932. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea. He was also suffering from withdrawal symptoms from his cocaine addiction. Capone was then sent to the newly opened Alcatraz prison, located off of San Francisco Bay, on January 6, 1939. Capone was released on parole later that year and spent his last years retired from crime at his mansion in Palm Island Florida. Capone suffered from a stroke on January 21, 1947. Following his stroke, the big boss of Chicago died in his home on January 25, 1947. Chicago’s king had retired
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was the most notorious bootlegger in American History. He was born on January 17, 1899 and died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947. Capone grew up in Brooklyn and became a member of the Five Points Gang. During a street fight he had received a scar on his face that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone quickly moves up the ranks in the mafia world, often noticed for his toughness, in 1919 he grabbed the attention of mobster John Torrio of Chicago. Capone was promoted to bodyguard of the mob boss James Colosimo. When Capone moved to Chicago, bootlegging was just starting to blow up. These bootleggers pounced on the opportunity to completely control the business of making, importing, and distributing alcohol and all alcohol products. Alcohol wasn't the only flourishing industry for the the mob, they also did trade in
...ion for the years 1925-1929 and for failing to file tax returns for the years 1928 and 1929. The Department of Justice also charged him with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922-1931.# Although Capone had his lawyers offer to settle his tax claims for four million dollars, the Treasury Department was not willing to make any deals. Found guilty on several accounts, Capone was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After his release, Capone’s health deteriorated rapidly and he was forced to withdraw from the outfit. In 1947, at the age of forty-eight Al Capone died of health complications.#
Organized crime has developed a stigma regarding its power and influence, especially during its hay day in the 1930’s. The mob has always been viewed as a powerful “family-like” organization. In Scarface, Hawkes brings the mafia into a seemingly more realistic light. By overturning Lovo’s position of power, Tony represents the idea of “every man for himself,” within a supposed organized group. The viewer steps into a cut-throat world of power hungry men, all trying to get rich quick. In this world, Hawkes asks, how can you organize men towards any goal if they all seek personal gain?
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.
Al Capone Legacy Al “Scarface” Capone was a successful entrepreneur who saw an opportunity and pounced on it. Capone made his fortune through both legal and illegal business practices. WIth these strategies they live on and we see them today still and with them many laws and reforms had been created because of Capone. Capone had a very challenging and different childhood with eight siblings, he was born January 17th, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. He had struggled in school, not because of the work as he was a fairly good student but he saw rules as something to break and not something to follow.
A peace treaty was organized in 1926 by the leading gangsters, but it did not hold. Capone, who was cheered to the echo by crowds at sporting events, drove about in an armored car and was an exceptionally generous tipper. He was intent on taking control of Chicago and was on his way to becoming the most famous criminal of his
Al Capone was convicted of mass murder after ordering his gang of mobsters to gun down 9 members of a rival mobster family execution style. It was said to be the most brutal mass murder in history. He was held at Cook County Jail in Chicago until arrangements could be made for his transfer to Atlanta. On May 4, 1932 he started his prison sentence there. It was not until August of 1934 that he was transferred to Alcatraz. He spent 4 1/2 years there. It wasn’t an easy time for "Big Al". He got in a fight with another prisoner and was put in isolation for eight days. He was also stabbed with a pair of shears while he was getting his hair cut. After being diagnosed with a terminal disease in 1938, he was transferred to Terminal Island Prison in Southern California to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He was released in November of 1939 and died in his Palm Beach Mansion on January 25, 1947.
Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York to Gabriele and Teresina Capone. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two gangs; the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Alphonse did well at school until the 6th grade when he was expelled for retaliating against a teacher who hit him. He was fourteen at the time. He became part of the Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's bar, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn one night, local gangster Frank Gallucio was drinking with his sister at the Harvard Inn. Capone approached the girl to compliment her, and Gallucio took offense to him started a fight. Gallucio pulled a knife and cut Capone's face three times. That is how "Scarface" came to be.
His father was a respectable barber . when capone was a child he formed a gang to steal from other gangs . And he gave the stolen stuff back to the wrightful owners . when he did that he got paraded for doing it it .
His nickname is particularly infamous as well, as he is described in his online as “a child from an Italian immigrant family… also known as "Scarface," [who] rose to infamy as the leader of the Chicago mafia during the Prohibition era” (Biography.com Editors). A mafia boss with a scar received in a youthful scrap, Al “Scarface” Capone gained much of his initial momentum with the help of his friend and mentor, Johnny Torrio, who gave him his start and elevated him to the head of the operation when he retired (History.com Staff “Al”). Al Capone became incredibly rich through shady means, and is reported as having earned “$60 million annually selling illegal liquor” (History.com Staff “Al”). $60 million dollars is an incredible salary, and it was what Capone earned from alcohol sales alone. Despite this, for a long period of his career, he managed to go without arrest. In order to sell alcohol illegally, a market had to exist for it; a large market if he was going to earn tens of millions each year. The Prohibition wasn’t liked by many and because of this, Capone’s popularity grew enough that he was able to appeal himself as a vigilante for the hardworking men of Chicago (History.com Staff “Al”). He is quoted as having said, “All I ever did was sell beer and whiskey to our best people. All I did was to supply a demand that was pretty popular” and apparently, some of those “best people” were also those involved in the judicial system (Biography.com Editors). Though he was successful for a good number of years, it was inevitable that his career would take a downturn just as Torrio’s did after an attempt on his life, and it was his involvement with assault and murder that would put the nails in his coffin (History.com Staff
Alphonse Capone was also known as “Scarface” was born January 17th, 1899. He was one of the most famous gangsters of all time. During the 20s his net worth was $100 million dollars which in today's world would be 1.3 billion dollars. He rose to infamy as the leader of the Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition era. (A&E, Al Capone Biography, The Biography.com Website.) Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, his parents immigrated there from Italy. At the time his parents were very poor Capone and his family were living in poverty. During the 1920s prohibition came into place outlawing the sale and consumption of alcohol. This is how it became that Al Capone would become the most infamous gangsters in American history.
This case illustrated that there were real consequences to white collar crime. In addition to paying the fifty million dollar fine, he relinquished another fifty million dollars of his illegal trading profits. (He still had millions remaining, however, from his illegal gains.) His actual prison sentence was three years, yet he served only twenty-two months in the federal prison at Lompoc, California, which was known to have a “country-club” atmosphere.