Personal Information/Facts

Al Capone came from a well educated family. Instead of having a reputable job, he went into a life of crime.
He never stayed in one place for too long.  He would go to hotels for a while and then move.
He never liked to do the dirty work, but on occasion he would.
After working his way up through a few 'kiddie' and teen gangs during school, Capone soon became a member of the Five Points Gang,  That gang was notorious for its violence.  This is where he met and joined such future associates as Johnny Torrio and Lucky Luciano.
Capone served as Johnny Torrio's underboss for several years.  When Torrio retired in 1925, the job was given to Al Capone.
Al Capone was arrested in 1926 for killing three people, but spent only one night in jail because there was insufficient evidence to connect him with the murders.
In 1931, Capone was indicted for income tax evasion for the years 1925-29. He was also charged with the misdemeanor of failing to file tax returns for the years 1928 and 1929. The government charged that Capone owed $215,080.48 in taxes from his gambling profits. A third indictment was added, charging Capone with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922-31. Capone pleaded guilty to all three charges in the belief that he would be able to plea bargain. However, the judge who presided over the case, Judge James H. Wilkerson, would not make any deals. Capone changed his pleas to not guilty. Unable to bargain, he tried to bribe the jury but Wilkerson changed the jury panel at the last minute.  Capone never filed an income tax return, owned nothing in his own name, and never made a declaration of assets or income.
In May 1932, Capone was sent to Atlanta, the toughest of the federal prisons, to begin his eleven-year sentence. In prison Capone took control.  He got special privileges from the authorities such as putting a mirror, typewriter, rugs, and a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica in his cell.
While imprisoned at Alcatraz, Al Capone exhibited signs of dementia. He spent the rest of his felony sentence in the hospital. On January 6, 1939, his prison term expired and he was transferred to Terminal Island, a Federal Correctional Institution in California, to serve his one-year misdemeanor sentence. He was finally released on November 16, 1939, but still had to pay fines and court costs of $37,617.51.