Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone ( January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an American gangster who attained fame during the Prohibition era . His seven-year reign as crime boss ended when he was 33 years old.
Born inBrooklyn inNew York City, son of two Italianimmigrants, Capone was a member who became a bouncer in organized crime premises such as bootlegging. In his early twenties, he moved to Chicago and became bodyguard and trusted friend for Johnny Torrio, head of a criminal syndicate that illegally supplied alcohol. A conflict with the North Side Gang was instrumental in Capone's rise and fall. Torrio went into retirement after North Side gunmen almost killed him, bringing about Capone's succession. Capone expanded the bootlegging business through increasingly violent means, but his mutually profitable relationships with mayor WillamHale Thompson and the city's police meant Capone seemed safe from law enforcement. However, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre of gang rivals from the North Side Gang damaged Chicago's image, leading influential citizens to demand governmental action.
The federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone and prosecuted him for tax evasion in 1931. During prior and ultimately abortive negotiations to pay the government any back taxes he owed, Capone had made admissions of his income; the judge deemed these statements usable as evidence at the trial, and also refused to let Capone plead guilty for a lighter sentence.