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117-518: Lincoln Heights Jail was originally built in 1927 at a cost of $ 5 million and opened in 1931. A police station was built next to the jail. The initial five-story building was constructed to accommodate 625 prisoners. The jail was expanded in the early 1950s to accommodate 2,800 prisoners. Notable detainees included Al Capone and individuals arrested during the Zoot Suit Riots and the Watts riots . In 1951,

234-615: A U.S. Supreme Court ruling, although his appeal ultimately failed. Capone showed signs of neurosyphilis early in his sentence and became increasingly debilitated before being released after almost eight years of incarceration. In 1947, he died of cardiac arrest after a stroke. Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in Brooklyn , a borough of New York City , on January 17, 1899. His parents were Italian immigrants Teresa ( née  Raiola ; 1867–1952) and Gabriele Capone (1865–1920), both born in Angri ,

351-563: A cardiac arrest on January 22, and on January 25, surrounded by his family in his home, died after his heart failed as a result of apoplexy . His body was transported back to Chicago a week later and a private funeral was held. He was originally buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago. In 1950, Capone's remains, along with those of his father, Gabriele, and brother, Frank, were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois . Capone

468-621: A soup kitchen in Chicago during the Depression. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre led to public outcry about Thompson's alliance with Capone, and this was a factor in Anton J. Cermak winning the mayoral election on April 6, 1931. Capone was known for ordering other men to do his dirty work for him. In May 1929, one of Capone's bodyguards , Frank Rio , uncovered a plot by three of his men; Albert Anselmi, John Scalise and Joseph Giunta . They had been persuaded by Aiello to depose Capone and take over

585-466: A "Political Chameleon " and the leader of an effective political machine. Thompson was known for his over-the-top campaigning and uncensored language that, along with his towering height and weight, earned him the nickname "Big Bill". Upon his reelection in 1927 , Thompson had the school board suspend the Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools , William McAndrew . He was also at the forefront of

702-492: A "police raid". The faux police lined the seven victims along a wall and signaled for accomplices armed with machine guns and shotguns. Moran was not among the victims. Photos of the slain victims shocked the public and damaged Capone's image. Within days, Capone received a summons to testify before a Chicago grand jury on charges of federal Prohibition violations, but he claimed to be too unwell to attend. In an effort to clean up his image, Capone donated to charities and sponsored

819-406: A $ 100 bill in half and told Dodds that he would get the other half when he learned it. Capone also sent two bodyguards to accompany jazz pianist Earl Hines on a road trip. Capone indulged in custom suits, cigars, gourmet food and drink, and female companionship. He was particularly known for his flamboyant and costly jewelry. His favorite responses to questions about his activities were "I am just

936-493: A $ 50,000 bounty to anyone who eliminated Capone. At least ten gunmen tried to collect on the bounty, but ended up dead. Capone's ally Ralph Sheldon attempted to kill both Capone and Lombardo for Aiello's reward, but Capone henchman, Frank Nitti , had an intelligence network that learned of the transaction and had Sheldon shot in front of a West Side hotel, although he survived the incident. In November 1927, Aiello organized machine-gun ambushes across from Lombardo's home and

1053-408: A 77% to 23% margin against future Governor Dwight Green . In 1901, Thompson married Mary "Maysie" Walker Wyse, a secretary in his father's office. The two never had children. in 1930 his wife was robbed at gunpoint by George "Baby Face" Nelson , taking jewellery valued at $ 18,000. She described her attacker, saying "He had a baby face. He was good looking, hardly more than a boy, had dark hair and

1170-526: A Prohibition agent in Homer , Nebraska ; Raffaele James Capone , also known as Ralph Capone or "Bottles", who took charge of his brother's beverage industry; Salvatore "Frank" Capone ; Ermina Capone, who died at the age of one; Ermino "John" Capone; Albert Capone; Matthew Capone and Mafalda Capone. Ralph and Frank worked with Al in his criminal empire. Frank did so until his death on April 1, 1924. Ralph ran Al's bottling companies (both legal and illegal) early on and

1287-570: A Republican Party worker and loyalist. Within a year of her appointment, Rowe was charged with operating a kickback scheme in the department, and was forced to resign in 1916. This post would remain vacant until the mayoralty of Thompson's successor. Thompson gained national attention and condemnation for his neutral attitude toward the events of World War I . By declining the visit of the French Mission to Chicago and refusing to control or act against anti-war or anti-conscription meetings, Thompson

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1404-610: A back seat to that Bohunk , Chairmock, Chermack or whatever his name is. Tony, Tony, where's your pushcart at? Can you picture a World's Fair mayor with a name like that? Cermak replied, "He doesn't like my name...It's true I didn't come over on the Mayflower , but I came over as soon as I could," which was a sentiment to which ethnic Chicagoans (especially its large Bohemian population) could relate, so Thompson's slurs largely backfired. Al Capone reportedly donated $ 260,000 to Thompson's failed 1931 election. After Thompson's defeat,

1521-404: A baseball bat" and that he would have instead let an enforcer perform the murders; however, despite claims that the story was first reported by author Walter Noble Burns in his 1931 book The One-Way Ride: The Red Trail of Chicago Gangland from Prohibition to Jake Lingle , Capone biographers Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz have found versions of the story in press coverage shortly after

1638-747: A bodyguard of Johnny Torrio , head of a criminal syndicate that illegally supplied alcohol —the forerunner of the Outfit—and was politically protected through the Unione Siciliana . 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, handing control to Capone. Although Capone expanded the bootlegging business through increasingly violent means, his mutually profitable relationships with Mayor William Hale Thompson and

1755-502: A businessman, giving the people what they want" and "All I do is satisfy a public demand". Capone had become a national celebrity and talking point. Capone based himself in Cicero , Illinois , after using bribery and widespread intimidation to take over town council elections, making it difficult for the North Siders to target him. Capone's driver was found tortured and murdered, and there

1872-461: A cigar store frequented by Capone, but those plans were foiled after an anonymous tip led police to raid several addresses and arrest Milwaukee gunman Angelo La Mantio and four other Aiello gunmen. After the police discovered receipts for the apartments in La Mantio's pockets, he confessed that Aiello had hired him to kill Capone and Lombardo, leading the police to arrest Aiello himself and bring him to

1989-401: A citywide gang war, aiming to unseat his successor, William Dever. Always a flamboyant campaigner, Thompson held a primary-election debate between himself and two live rats which he used to portray his opponents. Pledging to clean up Chicago and remove the crooks, Thompson instead turned his attention to the reformers, whom he considered the real criminals. According to Thompson, the biggest enemy

2106-456: A communal rooftop deck. As of March 2020, the project has been delayed due to environmental issues with the site. The novel L.A. Confidential and subsequent film, part of which was filmed there, was inspired by the Bloody Christmas incident. The 1984 horror movie Nightmare on Elm Street filmed the boiler room scenes here and the 1983 exploitation women in prison film Chained Heat

2223-451: A court appearance after his attorney claimed he suffered a nervous breakdown. Aiello disappeared with some family members to Trenton, New Jersey , where he continued his campaign against Capone and Lombardo. Chicago politicians had long been associated with questionable methods, and even newspaper circulation "wars", but the need for bootleggers to have protection in city hall introduced a far more serious level of violence and graft. Capone

2340-541: A feud with Capone. Aiello allied himself with several of Capone enemies, including Jack Zuta , who ran vice and gambling houses together. Aiello plotted to eliminate both Lombardo and Capone, and starting in the spring of 1927, made several attempts to assassinate Capone. On one occasion, Aiello offered money to the chef of Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito 's Bella Napoli Café, Capone's favorite restaurant, to put prussic acid in Capone's and Lombardo's soup; reports indicated he offered between $ 10,000 and $ 35,000. Instead,

2457-524: A few weeks of inpatient and outpatient care, on March 20, 1940, a very sickly Capone left Baltimore and travelled to his mansion in Palm Island, Florida . In 1942, after mass production of penicillin was started in the United States, Capone was one of the first American patients treated by the new drug. Though it was too late for him to reverse the damage to his brain, it did slow down the progression of

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2574-416: A letter from a lawyer acting for Capone conceding his large taxable income for certain years he had paid no tax on. On March 13, 1931, Capone was charged with income tax evasion for 1924, in a secret grand jury. On June 5, 1931, Capone was indicted by a federal grand jury on 22 counts of income tax evasion from 1925 through 1929; he was released on $ 50,000 bail. Capone was then indicted on 5,000 violations of

2691-456: A liar and defamer of character. Thompson left office April 9, 1931. In 1936 , Thompson ran for the office of Illinois governor on the "Union Progressive" ballot line against Democratic incumbent Henry Horner and Republican nominee C. Wayland Brooks . He received only three percent of the vote. In 1939 , Thompson ran in the Republican primary for mayor of Chicago and was soundly defeated by

2808-514: A member of the Republican National Committee . He would continue to serve on the committee until 1920. Thompson was reelected mayor in 1919 , beating out Robert Sweitzer once again along with Adolph S. Carm, John Collins, John Fitzpatrick , and Maclay Hoyne . Thompson was said to have had control of the 75,000 black voters in his day. In his campaign he claimed to be an advocate for the people against public utility companies and

2925-581: A multi-agency attack on Capone. Treasury and Justice Departments developed plans for income tax prosecutions against Chicago gangsters, and a small, elite squad of Prohibition Bureau agents (whose members included Eliot Ness ) were deployed against bootleggers. In a city used to corruption, these lawmen were incorruptible. Charles Schwarz, a writer for the Chicago Daily News , dubbed them Untouchables . To support Federal efforts, Strong secretly used his newspaper's resources to gather and share intelligence on

3042-485: A night train to Cleveland , Omaha , Kansas City , Little Rock , or Hot Springs , Arkansas , where they would spend a week in luxury hotel suites under assumed names. In 1928, Capone paid $ 40,000 to Clarence Busch of the Anheuser-Busch brewing family for a 10,000 square foot (930 m ) home at 93 Palm Avenue on Palm Island , Florida , between Miami and Miami Beach . In November 1925, Antonio Lombardo , who

3159-514: A relatively slim margin. On the day of the Pineapple Primary on April 10, 1928, voting booths were targeted by Capone's bomber, James Belcastro , in wards where Thompson's opponents were thought to have support, causing the deaths of at least fifteen people. Belcastro was accused of murdering lawyer Octavius Granady, an African-American, who challenged Thompson's candidate for the Black vote, and

3276-420: A relief fund and ordered an investigation into the casual negligence responsible for the tragedy. In 1915, a delegation of civic-oriented women, headed by Mary McDowell , urged Thompson to appoint an well-qualified woman to the city's new office of "commissioner of public welfare". Thompson did appoint a woman. However, instead of a woman qualified by a public welfare background, he appointed Louise Osborn Rowe,

3393-441: A settler of disputes. In a fateful step, Torrio arranged the murder of O'Banion at his flower shop on November 10, 1924. This placed Hymie Weiss at the head of the gang, backed by Vincent Drucci and Bugs Moran . Weiss had been a close friend of O'Banion, and the North Siders made it a priority to get revenge on his killers. During Prohibition , Capone was involved with Canadian bootleggers who helped him smuggle liquor into

3510-701: A small municipality outside of Naples in the province of Salerno . His father was a barber and his mother was a seamstress . Capone's family had immigrated to the United States in 1893 by ship, first going through the port city of Fiume , Austria-Hungary (modern-day Rijeka , Croatia). The family settled at 95 Navy Street, in the Brooklyn Navy Yard . When Capone was aged 11, he and his family moved to 38 Garfield Place in Park Slope , Brooklyn. Capone's parents had eight other children: James Vincenzo Capone , who later changed his name to Richard Hart and became

3627-410: A taxicab, a gunman in a second-floor window across the street started firing at Aiello with a submachine gun. Aiello was said to have been shot at least 13 times before he toppled off the building steps and moved around the corner, attempting to move out of the line of fire. Instead, he moved directly into the range of a second submachine gun positioned on the third floor of another apartment block, and

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3744-463: A total income of $ 1,038,654, during the five-year period. Capone was convicted on five counts of income tax evasion on October 17, 1931, and was sentenced a week later to 11 years in federal prison, fined $ 50,000 plus $ 7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $ 215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes. The contempt of court sentence was served concurrently. New lawyers hired to represent Capone were Washington-based tax experts. They filed

3861-412: A two-week trial over which Wilkerson presided. Seeking to avoid the same fate, Capone ordered his lawyer to regularize his tax position, and although it was not done, his lawyer made crucial admissions when stating the income that Capone was willing to pay tax on for various years, admitting income of $ 100,000 for 1928 and 1929, for instance; hence, without any investigation, the government had been given

3978-562: A waterway from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Promoting both the project and himself, Thompson set off on a "scientific" expedition (to be extensively covered by the media), which he set off to the South Seas in order to find a tree-climbing fish on July 5, 1924. Attracting more attention, Thompson placed a $ 25,000 bet on his success, but no one participated. Thompson ran again in 1927 during

4095-490: A writ of habeas corpus based on a Supreme Court ruling that tax evasion was not fraud, which apparently meant that Capone had been convicted on charges relating to years that were actually outside the time limit for prosecution; however, a judge interpreted the law so that the time that Capone had spent in Miami was subtracted from the age of the offences, thereby denying the appeal of both Capone's conviction and sentence. Capone

4212-465: Is "credited with characterizing Chicago as the sixth German city of the world," also earning the nickname "Kaiser" Bill Thompson. Thompson sought to further endear himself to the city's German and Irish populations by positioning himself as anti-British. Thompson opposed sending troops into war after the United States' April 1917 declaration of war. These facts later went on to hurt his chances in his 1918 U.S. Senate campaign. In 1916, he became

4329-414: Is generally seen as having an appreciable effect in bringing about the victory of Republican mayoral candidate William Hale Thompson , who had campaigned on a platform of not enforcing Prohibition and at one time hinted that he'd reopen illegal saloons. Thompson allegedly accepted a contribution of $ 250,000 from Capone. Thompson beat Democratic candidate William Emmett Dever in the 1927 mayoral race by

4446-429: Is greater than some nations". This expansion included the extension and widening of streets to cross over more of the city, new post offices, freight terminals, playgrounds, bridges, and more. Also, due to the rapidly changing city, Thompson proposed a zoning bill to regulate and create commercial, industrial, and residential areas. Among the other issues he claimed he would address were telephone prices and service quality,

4563-462: Is one of the most notorious American gangsters of the 20th century and has been the major subject of numerous articles, books, and films. Particularly, from 1925 to 1929, shortly after he moved to Chicago, he enjoyed his status as the most notorious mobster in the country. He cultivated a certain image of himself in the media that made him a subject of fascination. William Hale Thompson William Hale Thompson (May 14, 1869 – March 19, 1944)

4680-537: The Chicago Tribune wrote, For Chicago Thompson has meant filth, corruption, obscenity, idiocy and bankruptcy.... He has given the city an international reputation for moronic buffoonery, barbaric crime, triumphant hoodlumism, unchecked graft, and a dejected citizenship. He nearly ruined the property and completely destroyed the pride of the city. He made Chicago a byword for the collapse of American civilization. In his attempt to continue this he excelled himself as

4797-470: The Chicago Tribune . U.S. Senator Medill McCormick was the publisher's brother, and Ruth Hanna McCormick was Medill McCormick's wife. Amid growing discontent with Thompson's leadership, particularly in the area of cleaning up Chicago's reputation as the capital of organized crime , he was defeated in 1931 by Democrat Anton Cermak . Cermak was an immigrant from Bohemia , and Thompson used this fact to belittle him with ethnic slurs such as: I won't take

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4914-593: The American Civil War . His maternal grandfather, Stephen F. Gale, the first chief of the Chicago Fire Department , had played a large part in drawing up the city's corporation charter in 1837, earning him regard as a "Chicago pioneer" by some academic journalists. Thompson attended Chicago Public Schools , and took supplementary courses at the Fessenden School and Metropolitan College. Thompson

5031-608: The Chicago City Council from the 2nd Ward, his home district. Two years later, he became a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners , serving from 1902 through 1904. During this period, Thompson formed a political alliance with Frederick Lundin , a Republican city clerk who worked under William Lorimer , a U.S. Representative from Illinois who was known for corrupt election methods. The political duo, according to most citizens, worked very well together earning them

5148-766: The Chicago Police Department meant he seemed safe from law enforcement. Capone apparently reveled in attention, such as the cheers from spectators when he appeared at baseball games. He made donations to various charities and was viewed by many as a "modern-day Robin Hood ". The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre , in which seven gang rivals were murdered in broad daylight, damaged the public image of Chicago and Capone, leading influential citizens to demand government action and newspapers to dub Capone " Public Enemy No. 1". Federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone and charged him with twenty-two counts of tax evasion . He

5265-642: The Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1925 to 1931. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33. Capone was born in New York City in 1899 to Italian immigrants . He joined the Five Points Gang as a teenager and became a bouncer in organized crime premises such as brothels. In his early twenties, Capone moved to Chicago and became

5382-454: The Tribune erroneously reported the date as May 7, 1923. In the early years of the decade, Capone's name began appearing in newspaper sports pages where he was described as a boxing promoter. Torrio took over Colosimo's criminal empire after the latter's murder on May 11, 1920, in which Capone was suspected of being involved. Torrio headed an essentially Italian organized crime group that

5499-534: The Volstead Act (Prohibition laws). On June 16, 1931, at the Chicago Federal Building in the courtroom of Wilkerson, Capone pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and the 5,000 Volstead Act violations as part of a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -year prison sentence plea bargain . On July 30, 1931, Wilkerson refused to honor the plea bargain, and Capone's counsel rescinded the guilty pleas. On the second day of

5616-421: The 1920s. Rivals saw Capone as responsible for the proliferation of brothels in the city. Capone often enlisted the help of local members of the black community into his operations; jazz musicians Milt Hinton and Lionel Hampton had uncles who worked for Capone on Chicago's South Side. A fan of jazz as well, Capone once asked clarinetist Johnny Dodds to play a number that Dodds did not know; Capone split

5733-738: The Arts. In 2016, the City of Los Angeles issued a Request for Interest to garner development ideas to revitalize the sprawling 229,000 square feet (21,300 m) jail complex. In 2017, Lincoln Property Company and Fifteen Group were selected to redevelop the Lincoln Heights Jail complex into the Lincoln Heights Makers District , which will feature a commercial and manufacturing spaces, a public market, creative office space, live-work housing, an amphitheater with green space, recreation areas and

5850-474: The Capone outfit. On March 27, 1929, Capone was arrested by FBI agents as he left a Chicago courtroom after testifying to a grand jury that was investigating violations of federal prohibition laws. He was charged with contempt of court for feigning illness to avoid an earlier appearance. On May 16, 1929, Capone was arrested in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, for carrying a concealed weapon. On May 17, 1929, Capone

5967-555: The Chicago Outfit. Later on, Capone beat the men with a baseball bat and then ordered his bodyguards to shoot them, a scene that was included in the 1987 film The Untouchables . Deirdre Bair, along with writers and historians such as William Elliot Hazelgrove, have questioned the veracity of the claim. Bair questioned why "three trained killers could sit quietly and let this happen", while Hazelgrove stated that Capone would have been "hard pressed to beat three men to death with

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6084-490: The Chicago police, but at a lower level and without the open violence that had marked Capone's rule. Organized crime in the city had a lower profile once Prohibition was repealed, already wary of attention after seeing Capone's notoriety bring him down, to the extent that there is a lack of consensus among writers about who was actually in control and who was a figurehead "front boss". Prostitution, labor union racketeering, and gambling became moneymakers for organized crime in

6201-463: The Harvard Inn. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door , and he was slashed with a knife three times on the left side of his face by her brother, Frank Galluccio; the wounds led to the nickname "Scarface", which Capone loathed. The date when this occurred has been reported with inconsistencies. When Capone was photographed, he hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that

6318-590: The Illinois Athletic Club and the Sportsmen's Club of America and quickly was appointed director-general and captain of the water polo and football teams. His six-foot frame and athletic prowess earned him the nickname "Big Bill," which stuck with him throughout his career as a politician. Thompson served on the Real Estate Board of Chicago. In 1900, Thompson narrowly won election as an alderman on

6435-535: The President. In Hoover's 1952 Memoir, the former President reported that Strong argued "Chicago was in the hands of the gangsters, that the police and magistrates were completely under their control, …that the Federal government was the only force by which the city's ability to govern itself could be restored. At once I directed that all the Federal agencies concentrate upon Mr. Capone and his allies." That meeting launched

6552-537: The Rock Islanders, which gave regular Sunday concerts for other inmates. Capone also transcribed the song " Madonna Mia " creating his own arrangement as a tribute to his wife Mae. At Alcatraz, Capone's decline became increasingly evident, as neurosyphilis progressively eroded his mental faculties; his formal diagnosis of syphilis of the brain was made in February 1938. He spent the last year of his Alcatraz sentence in

6669-485: The South Clark Street police station. Upon learning of the arrest, Capone dispatched nearly two dozen gunmen to stand guard outside the station and await Aiello's release. The men made no attempt to conceal their purpose there, and reporters and photographers rushed to the scene to observe Aiello's expected murder. When released, Aiello was given a police escort out of the station to safety. He later failed to make

6786-649: The U.S. When Capone was asked if he knew Rocco Perri , billed as Canada's "King of the Bootleggers", he replied: "Why, I don't even know which street Canada is on." Other sources claim that Capone had certainly visited Canada, where he maintained some hideaways, although the Royal Canadian Mounted Police states that there is no "evidence that he ever set foot on Canadian soil". An ambush in January 1925 left Capone shaken, but unhurt. Twelve days later, Torrio

6903-536: The United States had was King George V of the United Kingdom. Thompson promised his supporters, many of whom were Irish, that if they ever met, Thompson would punch the king in the nose, or at other times, that he would arrest His Majesty. Upon his victory over Dever, Thompson's floating speakeasy, outwardly known as the Fish Fans Club, docked at Belmont Harbor . It was flooded with his supporters, so many so that

7020-410: The approach was legally sound: illegally earned income was subject to income tax. The key to Capone's conviction on tax charges was not his spending, but proving his income, and the most valuable evidence in that regard originated in his offer to pay tax. Ralph, his brother and a gangster in his own right, was tried for tax evasion in 1930. Ralph spent the next 18 months in prison after being convicted in

7137-456: The boat itself sank beneath the weight. In his inaugural address on April 18, 1927, Thompson addressed the importance of remedying crime in Chicago, saying, Our new Superintendent of Police has my positive instructions to drive the crooks and thieves and lawbreakers out of Chicago in ninety days, so that the people, their homes and their property may again be secure. Thompson expressed his desire to remove Superintendent William McAndrew from

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7254-514: The chef exposed the plot to Capone, who responded by dispatching men to destroy Aiello's bakery on West Division Street with machine-gun fire. More than 200 bullets were fired into the bakery on May 28, 1927, wounding Aiello's brother Antonio. During the summer and autumn of 1927, a number of hitmen Aiello hired to kill Capone were themselves slain. Among them were Anthony Russo and Vincent Spicuzza, each of whom had been offered $ 25,000 by Aiello to kill Capone and Lombardo. Aiello eventually offered

7371-597: The city as a whole. In August 1927, the Chicago Board of Education , now under Thompson's influence after he appointed a number of new members, voted to charge McAndrew with insubordination and lack of patriotism, suspending him pending an administrative hearing held by the board . The administrative hearing would last months, and the Chicago Board of Education would find McAndrew guilty. The Cook County Superior Court would later void this decision. Al Capone 's support

7488-457: The city without incurring serious investigation. In the late 1950s, FBI agents discovered an organization led by Capone's former lieutenants reigning supreme over the Chicago underworld. Some historians have speculated that Capone ordered the 1939 murder of Edward J. O'Hare a week before his release, for helping federal prosecutors convict Capone of tax evasion, though there are other theories for O'Hare's death. Due to his failing health, Capone

7605-714: The city's economy. His efforts to expand and publicly improve the streets of Chicago earned him another nickname of "Big Bill the Builder". In his time as mayor, he oversaw the completion of the Michigan Avenue link bridge , the Twelfth Street widening, and the extension and widening of Ogden Avenue . Along with his big dreams for Chicago's geographical expansion, he wished for Chicago to expand politically and economically. He believed that Chicago should be able to enforce laws on their own terms, particularly without what he claimed to be

7722-503: The crime. Collins and Schwartz suggest that similarities among reported versions of the story indicate a basis in truth and that the Outfit deliberately spread the tale to enhance Capone's fearsome reputation. George Meyer, an associate of Capone's, also claimed to have witnessed both the planning of the murders and the event itself. In 1930, upon learning of Aiello's continued plotting against him, Capone resolved to finally eliminate him. In

7839-402: The disease. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist examined him and concluded that Capone had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. He spent the last years of his life at his Palm Island mansion, spending time with his wife and grandchildren. On January 21, 1947, Capone had a stroke . He regained consciousness and started to improve, but contracted bronchopneumonia . He suffered

7956-503: The effectiveness of his political methods and publicity-oriented campaigning, acknowledging him as a "Political Chameleon " and an effective political machine. Time magazine said in 1931, "chief credit for creating 20th Century Politics Chicago Style" should go to William Thompson. A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Thompson as

8073-408: The executive nor transgress upon the legislative or judicial functions. I shall impartially execute the laws made by the proper legislative authorities and interpreted by the judiciary. As Thompson entered the first term of his mayorship, he appointed Fred Lundin as chairman on the committee of patronage . Early in his mayoral career, Thompson began to amass a war chest to support an eventual run for

8190-577: The expansion of the Chicago Police Department, jobs for returning soldiers, lowering the cost of living, and restoring the jobs of Public School representatives who were removed by the Supreme Court. Early into his second term, the city dealt with the Chicago race riot of 1919 . At the 1920 Republican National Convention Thompson helped to block his one-time ally Frank Lowden from capturing

8307-597: The hospital section, confused and disoriented. Capone completed his term in Alcatraz on January 6, 1939, and was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in California to serve out his sentence for contempt of court . He was paroled on November 16, 1939, after his wife Mae appealed to the court, based on his reduced mental capabilities. The main effect of Capone's conviction

8424-542: The infection, but he apparently never sought treatment. In 1923, Capone purchased a small house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue in the Park Manor neighborhood in Chicago's South Side for $ 5,500 . As originally reported in the Chicago Tribune , hijacker Joe Howard was killed on May 8, 1924, after he tried to interfere with the Capone-Torrio bootlegging business. In a 1936 article highlighting Capone's criminal career,

8541-490: The injuries were war wounds. He was called "Snorky" by his closest friends, a term for a sharp dresser. In 1919, Capone left New York City for Chicago at the invitation of Torrio, who was imported by crime boss James "Big Jim" Colosimo as an enforcer. Capone began in Chicago as a bouncer in a brothel , which is thought to be most likely where he contracted syphilis . Capone was aware of being infected at an early stage and timely use of Salvarsan probably could have cured

8658-407: The interference of British government or totalitarian rule. He ended his inaugural address by declaring, I am a firm believer in the separation of the three co-ordinate branches of government – Executive, Legislative and Judicial – peculiar to our American system, and that one should not intrude upon or violate, the prerogatives of the other. I do not intend to exceed the rights and privileges of

8775-661: The marriage. By all accounts, the two had a happy marriage. Capone initially became involved with small-time gangs that included the Junior Forty Thieves and the Bowery Boys. He then joined the Brooklyn Rippers, and then the powerful Five Points Gang based in Lower Manhattan . During this time he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer Frankie Yale , a bartender in a Coney Island dance hall and saloon called

8892-608: The massacre. The massacre was an attempt to eliminate Bugs Moran , head of the North Side Gang , and the motivation for the plan may have been the fact that some expensive whisky that was illegally imported from Canada via the Detroit River had been hijacked while it was being transported to Cook County, Illinois. Moran was the last survivor of the North Side gunmen; his succession had come about because his similarly aggressive predecessors, Weiss and Vincent Drucci , had been killed in

9009-471: The movement for the Chicago Public Library system and education officials to censor and ban many texts and historical recollections coming from the United Kingdom. Though Thompson was a popular figure during his career, his popularity collapsed after his death, when two safe-deposit boxes were found in his name containing over $ 1.8 million, which were taken as evidence of his corruption. Thompson

9126-422: The music videos " Feeling This " by Blink-182 , "Telephone" by Lady Gaga , and "Good Girls" by 5 Seconds of Summer . Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( / k ə ˈ p oʊ n / kə- POHN , Italian: [kaˈpoːne] ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname " Scarface ", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during

9243-538: The nomination. Thompson declined to run for reelection in 1923 and he was succeeded by William Emmett Dever . Thompson left office as Mayor on April 16, 1923. While out of office, Thompson was appointed chairman of the Illinois Waterways Commission . He used his position to remain relevant in the media, involving himself in civic suits and campaigning for the Lakes-to-Gulf waterway project: to build

9360-610: The plea bargain Wilkerson refused to honor, therefore had mere hours to prepare for the trial, ran a weak defense focused on claiming that essentially all his income was lost to gambling. This would have been irrelevant regardless, since gambling losses can only be subtracted from gambling winnings, but it was further undercut by Capone's expenses, which were well beyond what his claimed income could support; Wilkerson allowed Capone's spending to be presented at very great length. The government charged Capone with evasion of $ 215,000 in taxes on

9477-583: The presidency, by charging city drivers and inspectors $ 3 per month. Early in his mayoralty Thompson had to cut short a July 1915 trip to San Francisco in order to deal with the aftermath of the Eastland disaster . While Thompson was out of town, acting-mayor Moorhouse had turned the Chicago City Hall into a makeshift hospital for first aid and a morgue for bodies recovered from the tragedy. Once Thompson returned to Chicago he organized and heavily promoted

9594-487: The public schooling system, and restore what he called the "true history of George Washington" while exposing "the treason and propaganda which insidiously have been injected into our schools and other educational institutions". He also went on to enforce other issues he had addressed in previous speeches, like the issue of public transit, playgrounds, and the general upkeep and expansion of Chicago in an effort to aid property owners and increase residential income and revenue for

9711-402: The publicity to run against Thompson in the Republican primary. In February 1931, Capone was tried on the contempt of court charge. In court, Judge James Herbert Wilkerson , intervened to reinforce questioning of Capone's doctor by the prosecutor. Wilkerson sentenced Capone to six months, but he remained free while on appeal of the contempt conviction. In February 1930, Capone's organization

9828-493: The rich who avoided taxes. This inspired Thompson to enforce a five-cent streetcar fare to promote his campaign, which was also used to threaten the action of streetcar companies; he also sued the Chicago "L" when it tried to raise fares after the inflation caused by World War I. Eventually, however, despite his protests, the fare was raised to seven cents. In his second inaugural address on April 28, 1919, Thompson looked towards drastically expanding Chicago, saying that "Chicago

9945-459: The title the " Gallagher and Shean of Chicago Politics". Thompson with his outgoing and charismatic personality paired with his towering stature and gentlemanly appearance gave him an undeniable public presence, which was completed by Lundin's cunning political ideas and projects. In 1915, Thompson was elected as the 41st Mayor of Chicago, beating County Clerk Robert M. Sweitzer , John H. Hill, Seymour Steadman , and Charles Thompson. Thompson

10062-546: The trial, Wilkerson deemed that the 1930 letter to federal authorities could be admitted into evidence, overruling objections that a lawyer could not confess for his client. Wilkerson later tried Capone only on the income tax evasion charges as he determined they took precedence over the Volstead Act charges. Much was later made of other evidence, such as witnesses and ledgers, but these strongly implied Capone's control rather than stating it. Capone's lawyers, who had relied on

10179-598: The unprovoked beating of seven prisoners occurred in the prison on what came to be known as " Bloody Christmas ". The jail was decommissioned in 1965, after the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to consolidate inmates in a nearby county jail as a cost-efficiency measure. From 1979 until 2014, the building was the home of the Bilingual Foundation of

10296-401: The violence that followed the murder of original leader Dean O'Banion . To monitor their targets' habits and movements, Capone's men rented an apartment across from the trucking warehouse and garage at 2122 North Clark Street, which served as Moran's headquarters. On the morning of Thursday, February 14, 1929, Capone's lookouts signaled four gunmen, disguised as police officers, to initiate

10413-556: The weeks before Aiello's death, Capone's men tracked him to Rochester, New York , where he had connections through Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino , and plotted to kill him there, but Aiello returned to Chicago before the plot could be executed. Aiello, angst-ridden from the constant need to hide out and the killings of several of his men, set up residence in the Chicago apartment of Unione Siciliana treasurer Pasquale "Patsy Presto" Prestogiacomo at 205 N. Kolmar Ave. On October 23, upon exiting Prestogiacomo's building to enter

10530-522: Was St. Valentine's Day Massacre . Thompson blamed Ruth Hanna McCormick 's lack of support for his loss at the 1928 Republican National Convention , and he returned the favor during her 1930 campaign for the United States Senate by endorsing against her in the general election. Thompson had had a longstanding rivalry with the McCormicks. He intensely disliked Robert R. McCormick who published

10647-479: Was Capone's consigliere , was named head of the Unione Siciliana , a Sicilian-American benevolent society that had been corrupted by gangsters. An infuriated Joe Aiello , who had wanted the position himself, believed Capone was responsible for Lombardo's ascension and resented the non-Sicilian's attempts to manipulate affairs within the Unione. Aiello severed all personal and business ties with Lombardo and entered into

10764-576: Was also filmed at the prison. Some prison scenes in American History X were shot on the roof. The television series Cagney & Lacey used it as a filming location. The scene in Iron Man 2 where main antagonist Ivan Vanko breaks out of prison was also filmed at this location. It is featured in the "Jailbreak" episode of the Jack Palance series Bronk . The building was used to film parts for

10881-486: Was also the front man for the Chicago Outfit until he was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1932. Capone showed promise as a student but had trouble with the rules at his strict parochial Catholic school . His schooling ended at the age of 14 after he was expelled for hitting a female teacher in the face. Capone worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. From 1916 to 1918, he played semi-professional baseball . Following this, Capone

10998-500: Was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as " Big Bill ", he is the most recent Republican to have served as mayor of Chicago . Historians rank him among the most unethical mayors in American history, mainly for his open alliance with Al Capone . However, others recognize the effectiveness of his political methods and publicity-oriented campaigning, acknowledging him as

11115-549: Was an attempt on Weiss' life in the Chicago Loop . On September 20, 1926, the North Siders used a ploy outside Capone's headquarters at the Hawthorne Inn aimed at drawing him to the windows. Gunmen in several cars then opened fire with Thompson submachine guns and shotguns at the windows of the first-floor restaurant. Capone was unhurt and called for a truce, but the negotiations fell flat. Three weeks later, on October 11, Weiss

11232-400: Was an independent operator. A 1929 report by The New York Times connected Capone to the 1926 murder of Assistant State Attorney William H. McSwiggin, the 1928 murders of chief investigator Ben Newmark, and former mentor Frankie Yale. Capone was widely assumed to have been responsible for ordering the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, despite being at his Florida home at the time of

11349-487: Was arrested on vagrancy charges when visiting Miami Beach; the governor had ordered sheriffs to run him out of the state. Capone claimed that Miami police had refused him food and water and threatened to arrest his family. He was charged with perjury for making these statements, but was acquitted after a three-day trial in July. In September, a Chicago judge issued a warrant for Capone's arrest on charges of vagrancy and then used

11466-649: Was born in Boston, Massachusetts , to William Hale and Medora Gale Thompson, but his family moved to Chicago when he was nine days old. Despite having been born in Boston, Thompson had strong roots in Chicago. His father, Colonel William Hale Thompson Sr., was a popular businessman within Chicago and had served as colonel in the Second Illinois Guard who had come to Chicago after serving in the United States Navy during

11583-421: Was chased through the streets on polling day by cars of gunmen before being shot dead. Four policemen were among those charged along with Belcastro, but all charges were dropped after key witnesses recanted their statements. An indication of the attitude of local law enforcement toward Capone's organization came in 1931 when Belcastro was wounded in a shooting; police suggested to skeptical journalists that Belcastro

11700-437: Was convicted of five counts in 1931. During a highly publicized case, the judge admitted as evidence Capone's admissions of his income and unpaid taxes, made during prior and ultimately abortive negotiations to pay the government taxes he owed. He was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in federal prison . After conviction, he replaced his defense team with experts in tax law , and his grounds for appeal were strengthened by

11817-508: Was indicted by a grand jury and a trial was held before Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge John E Walsh. Entering a guilty plea by his attorney, Capone was sentenced to a prison term of one year. On August 8, 1929, Capone was transferred to Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary . A week after his release in March 1930, Capone was listed as "Public Enemy #1" on the unofficial Chicago Crime Commission's widely publicized list. In April 1930, Capone

11934-410: Was influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio , whom he came to regard as a mentor. Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin at age 19, on December 30, 1918. She was Irish Catholic and earlier that month had given birth to their son Albert Francis "Sonny" Capone (1918–2004). Albert lost most of his hearing in his left ear as a child. Capone was under the age of 21, and his parents had to consent in writing to

12051-454: Was killed outside the North Siders' headquarters at O'Banion's former flower shop. The owner of Hawthorne's restaurant was a friend of Capone's, and he was kidnapped and killed by Moran and Drucci in January 1927. Capone became increasingly security-minded and desirous of getting away from Chicago. As a precaution, he and his entourage would often show up suddenly at one of Chicago's train depots and buy up an entire Pullman sleeper car on

12168-462: Was linked to the murder of Julius Rosenheim, who served as a police informant in the Chicago Outfit for 20 years. U.S. Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt is said to have originated the tactic of charging obviously wealthy crime figures with federal tax evasion on the basis of their luxurious lifestyles. In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sullivan that

12285-589: Was meant to attend Yale but instead moved to Wyoming at the age of 14, where he became a cowboy and cattle owner and traveled across Europe, taking up ranching in Texas and New Mexico later on in his life. The experiences influenced him to add Western touches into his campaign, including his sombrero , which became a symbol for his campaign. By the age of twenty-one, he had accumulated a stake of $ 30,000. He returned to Chicago in 1892 after his father's death to manage his estates. Shortly after returning to Chicago, Thompson joined

12402-551: Was not "a flower nor a fern to be seen". Upon Thompson's death, two safe deposit boxes in his name were discovered to contain nearly $ 1.84 million ($ 31.8 million today) in cash. Once the money was uncovered, the Internal Revenue Service took its share in taxes, and Maysie Thompson lived off of the rest until her death in 1958. Historians rank him among the most unethical mayors in American history, mainly for his open alliance with Al Capone . However, others recognize

12519-489: Was pivotal to Thompson's return to the mayor's office. Capone raised over $ 200,000 for Thompsons's 1927 campaign. During Thompson's second term, the " Pineapple Primary " took place on April 10, 1928, so-called because of the hand grenades thrown at polling places to disrupt voting. The Pineapple Primary saw candidates backed by Thompson face Charles Deneen in the Republican primary election . Another infamous instance of gang activity that took place during Thompson's third term

12636-471: Was receiving special treatment. No solid evidence ever emerged, but it formed part of the rationale for moving Capone to the recently opened Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary off the coast of San Francisco, in August 1934. On June 23, 1936, Capone was stabbed and superficially wounded by fellow Alcatraz inmate James C. Lucas . Due to his good behavior, Capone was permitted to play banjo in the Alcatraz prison band,

12753-470: Was released from prison on November 16, 1939, and referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for the treatment of syphilitic paresis . Because of his unsavory reputation, Johns Hopkins refused to treat him, but Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital did. Capone was grateful for the compassionate care that he received and donated two Japanese weeping cherry trees to Union Memorial Hospital in 1939. After

12870-537: Was returning from a shopping trip when he was shot several times. After recovering, he effectively resigned and handed control over to Capone, aged 26, who became the new boss of an organization that took in illegal breweries and a transportation network that reached to Canada, with political and law-enforcement protection . In turn, he was able to use more violence to increase revenue. Any establishment that refused to purchase liquor from Capone often got blown up, and as many as 100 people were killed in such bombings during

12987-468: Was seen as a weak personality, and so out of his depth dealing with bullying at the hands of fellow inmates that his cellmate, seasoned convict Red Rudensky , feared that Capone would have a breakdown. Rudensky was formerly a small-time criminal associated with the Capone gang and found himself becoming a protector for Capone. The conspicuous protection by Rudensky and other prisoners drew accusations from less friendly inmates and fueled suspicion that Capone

13104-451: Was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May 1932, aged 33. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea . He was also experiencing withdrawal symptoms from cocaine addiction, the use of which had perforated his nasal septum. Capone was competent at his prison job of stitching soles on shoes for eight hours a day, but his letters were barely coherent. He

13221-699: Was subsequently gunned down. In the wake of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, Walter A. Strong , publisher of the Chicago Daily News , asked his friend President Herbert Hoover for federal intervention to stem Chicago's lawlessness. He arranged a secret meeting at the White House, just two weeks after Hoover's inauguration. On March 19, 1929, Strong, joined by Frank Loesch of the Chicago Crime Commission , and Laird Bell , made their case to

13338-532: Was sworn in on April 26, 1915. In his inaugural address, Thompson spoke of his ambitions for Chicago to become "the greatest in the world", but also that his acts as mayor should not be swayed by corruption. He also emphasized the importance of public safety (as enforced by the Chicago Police Department ), the improvement of public transit, secure and permanently lowered gas prices, Chicago being allowed to have Home rule and more efforts being placed into Chicago's commercial interests in order to create jobs and improve

13455-433: Was that he ceased to be boss immediately on his imprisonment, but those involved in the jailing of Capone portrayed it as a considerable undermining of the city's organized crime syndicate. Capone's underboss , Frank Nitti , took over as boss of the Outfit after he was released from prison in March 1932, having also been convicted of tax evasion charges. Far from being smashed, the Outfit continued without being troubled by

13572-513: Was the biggest in Chicago, with Capone as his right-hand man. Torrio was wary of being drawn into gang wars and tried to negotiate agreements over territory between rival crime groups. The smaller North Side Gang , led by Dean O'Banion , came under pressure from the Genna brothers who were allied with Torrio. O'Banion found that Torrio was unhelpful with the Gennas' encroachment, despite his pretensions to be

13689-553: Was wearing a gray topcoat and a brown felt hat, turned down brim." This description earned Nelson the baby face moniker. William Hale Thompson died on March 19, 1944, at the Blackstone Hotel at the age of 74. He was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in a solid bronze casket. Despite the fact that many had liked Thompson and enjoyed his various political antics, few people attended his funeral, and one reporter noted that there

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