Who Is Responsible For Al Capone's Downfall

Imagine it is 1920 and a new law has passed to ban the production, importation, transportation, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages across the United States. Many people are trying to rise to economic greatness by illegally selling alcohol, but only one can win the prize. If Alphonse Capone does not ring a bell, maybe the name Scarface or Al Capone will. Scarface Capone was a highly sought after man during the Prohibition time period. Capone became known as the most notorious gangster of this time. He was proficient enough to gain this title from his successes starting with his first gang, moving on to his rise to power in Chicago, and even his great downfall away from the top.

Al Capone did not start out as the high riser that everyone

He was also a prime suspect of a murder investigation, causing Yale to send him to Torrio and Giacomo “Big Jim” Colosimo in Chicago to be better protected. In 1924, Capone was successful in corrupting the government, he was able to rig the election of a new mayor and installed a puppet government (Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone – From Obscurity to Chicago Outfit Boss). Capone, along with Torrio, became the leaders of a powerful liquor business in Cicero during the Prohibition (Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone – From Obscurity to Chicago Outfit Boss). These two were competing with Dean O’Banion, the North Side liquor business leader. Torrio had his life endangered with an assassination attempt that left him frightened, leaving the “business” to Capone. Capone was now the sole leader of a $100 million enterprise that was established with gambling, prostitution, extortion, but mainly alcohol sales. The business caused street violence and corrupt government to be a normal thing in the city of Chicago. Capone’s government control was not only with the mayor, but he had “police officers, judges, and other public figures in his pocket” (Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone – From Obscurity to Chicago Outfit Boss). The reins had changed on the

Valentine’s Day Massacre” started the downfall of the Al Capone power scandal (Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone – From Obscurity to Chicago Outfit Boss). He was arrested on a weapons charge in Philadelphia in 1929 and served nine months in jail. The year before his arrest Fred Wilson, a treasury agent, had begun looking into his income taxes. Even though the supreme court had just made a ruling that required everyone, even criminals, to pay income taxes. Everyone knew that Capone was making millions of dollars a year, but had never reported any income or paid any taxes to the government. In 1931 Capone was charged with tax evasion. He was tried in Chicago later that year. Capone attempted to bribe the jury members with anything he thought would work, even threats were thrown into the mix. However this did not work. The judge found out about Capone’s efforts and switched the jury immediately before the trial. “Capone was not tried by a jury of his peers. The jury was really hand-chosen--- really hand-selected-- by this judge. It was difficult to find men who were willing to convict bootleggers because everybody drank. But this was a jury that was not only willing to convict, it was eager to convict. To say they threw the book at Capone is a massive understatement” (Fresh Air). Capone’s trial ended with a tax evasion conviction, sentenced to eleven years in prison, $50 thousand fine, and $30 thousand in court costs. He served seven of those years at the