Alphonse 'Scarface' Capone
Regarded as the world's most famous gangster, Al Capone was born
in Brooklyn, NY in 1899. In sixth grade, Capone dropped out of school
and joined the James Street Gang, which was run by Johnny Torrio,
who would later become a founding member of the Chicago Mob.
Working as a bouncer in a bar and brothel in the Brooklyn led to
Capone recieving his 'Scarface' nickname after his left cheek got
slashed during a fight. After being in trouble with the law in NYC
in 1919, Capone migrated to Chicago to reunite himself with long-time
friend John Torrio. Torrio was working for his uncle, Big Jim
Colissimo. However, 'Big Jim' refused to take part in the
developing booze racket during prohibition, causing Capone and
Torrio to call upon a group of New York hit men to eliminate the
problem. In the wake of 'Big Jim's' murder, Capone and Torrio took
center stage in Chicago. However, Torrio would later bow out of the
mob scene after he was hospitalized from gun wounds recieved during
a war with the O'Banion Gang. Torrio took 30 million dollars and
went back to Brooklyn, telling Capone, "Al, it's all yours."
This was the beginning of the powerful Capone Mob, which consisted
of over 1000 members. Trust was the name of the game for Capone
and his gang members. Through his family of trusted mobsters, Capone
was able to earn an estimated 60 million dollars on the booze racket
alone, while sidestepping numerous hits on his life. Regardless of
the fact that Capone was a murderer, pimp, extortionist, and
bootlegger, he was loved by the public and was often seen in
the company of movie stars and political figures.
Capone's most famous hit was the St.Valentine's Day Massacre of the
O'Banion gang at a garage at 2122 North Clark Street. Capone sent
a team of hit men disquised as policemen to the garage where the O'Banion gang were taking delivery of a shipment of booze. The gang members were lined up against the wall, awaiting a pat-down, but instead were ruthlessly gunned down by machine gun fire. With their faces toward the wall, they never even saw it coming.
The St.Valentine's Day massacre, created bad press for Capone and
started the demise of his popularity with the public. Although
Capone was never convicted for the massacre, he was later convicted
for tax evasion in 1931. He was released from Alcatraz in 1939 due
to poor health, and died in his Florida mansionj in 1947 from
syphilis.
