Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn on January 17, 1899, to Gabriel and Teresa Capone. He lived in a tough neighborhood the first ten years of his life. His schooling began not far from the Sands street “stews” at P.S. 7 on Adams St. with a 16year old teacher. There he became good friends with one of the borough’s toughest delinquents Salvatore Lucanio, better known in later life as Lucky Luciano. The two of them became life long friends. Later Capone fell under the influence of an old Navy Street Neapolitan gangster who called himself John Torrio. Torrio was born in Naples in 1883 and his nickname from his followers was “Little John” due to his shortness in height. Torrio had belonged to Manhattan’s historic 5-Pointers gang for a little over 7years until the gangs’ desperados began to disappear into prisons or the grave. He then formed an affiliated gang and established its headquarters nearby in a saloon he ran on James Street. Capone looked up to Torrio and said ” I looked on Johnny like my adviser and father and the party who made it possible for me to get my start”.
After Al Capone joined with Torrio, he became an influential lieutenant in the Colosimo Mob. The mobs developed legitimate business interests such as the cleaning and dyeing fields. They also cultivated influence with receptive public officials labor union and employee’s associates.
In 1923, Capone became boss when Torrio, who was wounded in an assassination attempt, surrendered control and returned to Brooklyn. Soon Capone built a fearsome reputation in the ruthless gang rivalries, struggling to acquire and retain “racketing rights” to several areas of Chicago. His reputation grew as rival gangs were eliminated
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... and quickly learned the way of the streets, joining the Torrio gang, call the James Street Gang. James Street also included Lucky Luciano, one of Capone's ... the entire Chicago empire to a then 26 year-old Capone (Internet 1, 1). Capone found himself in another tight spot and had ... then on he was known as Scarface. Later in his life, when asked by reporters where he got this scare, he ...
A good example of the culminating violence of the Chicago gang era was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on Feb. 14, 1929. It was here that seven members of the “Bugs” Moran mob were gunned down against a garage with sub-machine guns by 5 members of Capone’s gang posing as police. The massacre was generally ascribed to Capone’s mob, although Al Capone himself was in Florida at the time of the shooting.
On October 18, 1931, Capone was convicted for tax evasion, and on November 24, was sentenced to eleven years in Federal prison, fined $50,000 and charged $7,692 for court costs, in addition to $215,000 plus interest due on back taxes. The six-month Contempt of Court sentence was to be served concurrently.
In November 16, 1939, Al Capone was finally released after having served six years, six months and fifteen days, and having paid all fines and back taxes. Suffering from paresis derived from syphilis, he had deteriorated greatly during his confinement. Immediately on release he entered a Baltimore hospital for brain treatment, and then went on to his Florida home, an estate on Palm Island near Miami, which he had purchased in 1928. Following his release, he never publicly returned to Chicago. He had become mentally incapable of returning to gangland politics. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist, after examination, both concluded Al Capone then had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. Capone resided on Palm Island with his wife and immediate family, in a secluded atmosphere, until his death due to a stroke and pneumonia on January 25, 1947.
