Sometimes regarded (mostly, I suspect, by Chicago writers reluctant to acknowledge that their city's criminal organizations were subservient to those in New York) as an organizational genius who served as one of the architects of the nationwide criminal Syndicate, Capone never earned full acceptance by his Sicilian associates and, as a result, never completely controlled the underworld of his adopted Chicago. There is scant evidence of his organization genius, though he certainly was a motivational genius. Underlings served him well after learning the monstrous consequences for misbehavior.
Capone grew up in the Five Points Gang, which in the 1900s stretched from its original Manhattan domain into Capone's Brooklyn neighborhood. He was a fearsome enforcer for Five Points leader Johnny Torrio. When Torrio later established himself in Chicago's Colosimo gang, he and Frank Yale of Brooklyn arranged for Capone to make the move west in 1919.
Capone quickly rose to the top of the Colosimo-Torrio crime empire, which thanks to Torrio and Capone, included bootleg liquor among its enterprises. After Torrio narrowly escaped death on Jan. 24, 1925, he retired, leaving the gang to Capone.
Al Capone's desire to control all of Chicago, including the local branch of the exclusively Sicilian Unione Siciliane, and his utter brutality ensured that the city's underworld was in a near constant state of warfare from 1925 to 1930.
His tinkering with the Unione appears to have caused a falling out with his old mentor, Yale, who some believe was the national president of that group. Yale also began hijacking his own shipments of imported liquor bound for Capone (perhaps as compensation for the non-payment of Chicago's Unione dues). When Yale was murdered in 1928, Capone was initially not suspected. But weapons on the scene were linked to some subsequent hits set up by the Chicago gangster.
Capone is believed responsible for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (FBI file) of rival gangsters in February 1929 and a horrific triple-murder in May of that year which put an end to a rebellious Sicilian conspiracy within his organization.
The bloodletting drew the attention of New York Mafiosi (who were likely far more upset by Capone's dispatching of prominent Sicilians and his meddling in the business of the Unione than they were for the Valentine's Day murders). At a mid-May conference of the nation's larger bootleggers in Atlantic City, Capone was scolded. Capone was ordered to allow himself to be arrested in Pennsylvania on a weapons charge. He remained in prison until the public outcry over his actions had died down.
When he emerged from prison, Capone found the nation's Mafia groups preparing for war and aligned himself with the faction led by New York's Giuseppe Masseria. As his part in the Castellamarese War, Capone sent regular financial contributions to Masseria and eliminated Castellamarese ally Joe Aiello in September of 1930. Capone saw his New York ally destroyed by Charlie Luciano's treachery in April of 1931. Luciano then disposed of Castellamarese leader Salvatore Maranzano and welcomed Capone and other Americanized Mafiosi into a new national Syndicate.
Capone would have only about a month to enjoy the new underworld order. His trial for tax evasion began in October. On Nov. 24, 1931, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison, in addition to more than a quarter million dollars in taxes, interest and fines. In jail, an existing case of syphilis began to eat away at his mind and body. He served about seven and a half years of his sentence.
He emerged from prison on Nov. 16, 1939, virtually incapacitated and was never again involved in underworld affairs. He retired to Palm Island, Florida, and died on Jan. 25, 1947. The causes of death were listed as stroke and pneumonia.
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