Al
"Scarface" Capone
Al(phonse)
Capone (1899-1947)
Chicago
gangster and murderer. He grew up in the slums of Brooklyn and received
the nickname "Scarface" as the result of a knife wound (3 scars on the
left side of his face) infliceted by Frank Galluccio, a tough hood, in
a quarrel about a girl at a Brooklyn bar in 1917. In 1920 Capone moved
to Chicago to work for Johnny Torrio, a syndicate chief. The Torrio-Capone
gang engaged in war with other mobs, killing rival leaders, such as Charles
Dion O'Banion in 1924. Capone soon took control from Torrio and organized
the syndicate with a plan to make crime in Chicago and throughout the US
run like a business monopoly. He established a $110-million-a-year empire
out of bootleg liquor, gambling, prostitution, and labor rackets. Through
violence,using sawed-off shotguns and machine guns, Capone became king
of the Chicago underworld, "The Master Criminal". His henchmen machine-gunned
to death seven members of the Moran gang on February 14, 1929, in what
became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The Chicago Police tried
many times to shut down Capone's numerous speakeasies and breweries, but
failed; too many of Capone's interests were tied to legitimate business
and too many policiticians and officials were indebted to Capone for their
jobs. In 1931 he was found guilty of income tax evasion and sentenced to
11 years imprisonment. Suffering from severe syphilitic paresis, probably
acquired during his youth, Capone was released from prison in 1939. He