Alphonse Al Capone: Chicago's Organized Crimes

Public enemy number one, Alphonse “Al” Capone ruled Chicago’s organized crime in the 1920’s and 30’s. For seven years, he lead a multi-million dollar operation in bootlegging, gambling, blackmailing and other illegal activities. He began his involvement in crime in his teenage years and despite being very infamous he would never be charged for any of his illegal operations.

In 1899, he was born to an Italian family with many siblings in Brooklyn, New York. After being kicked out of school at 14 years old for hitting a female teacher, he got a job in a bowling alley and would eventually join a gang where he was mentored by Johnny Torrio who built the Chicago Outfit. Capone was introduced to Frankie Yale by Torrio and would be hired by Yale to work as a bartender at the Harvard Inn on Coney Island. There he earned the name “Scarface” after being slashed by the brother of a woman he made an indecent remark upon. He would go on to be called “Snorky” by his friends which is slang for elegant. Al Capone would eventually marry Mae Coughlin
He killed at least 4 people himself and ordered dozens of other murders. He was also responsible for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. That attempt targeted an assassin and his followers who had tried to kill Capone. It was successful in murdering the followers but it failed to kill the main target because he showed up later than expected. With his activities in bootlegging, gambling and blackmailing he made over 100 million dollars a year. In bootlegging alone he made 60 million dollars a year. Bootlegging is the manufacture, distribution or transportation of illegal alcohol, and Al Capone smuggled huge quantities of whiskey into Chicago. He knew he was a VIP in the crime world so Capone had a custom built bulletproof Cadillac Limousine which was seized by the Treasury department in 1932. It was later used to transport President Roosevelt while he held