Alphonse "Scarface" Capone was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s.
Born in Brooklyn on January 17, 1899 to Italian immigrants, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the "Chicago Outfit" – although his business card described him as a used furniture dealer.
In 1929, Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness began investigating Capone and his businesses. By shutting down the many breweries and speakeasies Capone owned, Ness slowly brought Capone down. To lie low, Capone allegedly arranged to have himself jailed in a comfortable cell at Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary for nine months beginning August 1929.
Although he was never convicted of racketeering charges, or his undoubted role in ordering the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre and other murders, Capone's criminal career ended in 1931, when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income-tax evasion, [Begin sarcasm font]a crime more heinous than rape or murder in the eyes of the U.S. Government[End sarcasm font].
In May 1932, Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary, but he was able to obtain special privileges there, just as he had in Philadelphia. He was then transferred to the then brand new Alcatraz Prison (in the San Francisco Bay), where tight security and an uncompromising warden ensured that Capone had no contact with the outside world.
At Alcatraz, his health declined as the syphilis he caught as a youth progressed. He spent the last year of his sentence in the prison hospital, confused and disoriented. He was paroled on November 16, 1939, spent a short time in a hospital, then returned to his home in Palm Island, Florida.
On January 21, 1947, Capone suffered a stroke. He regained consciousness and started to improve but contracted pneumonia on January 24. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest the next day.
Al "Scarface" Capone got his first taste of prison life in Philadelphia. He stopped in Philadelphia while traveling from Atlantic City back to his home in Chicago in May, 1929. He was arrested outside a movie theater for carrying a concealed, unlicensed, .38 caliber revolver. The Philadelphia courts were tough. They handed Capone the maximum sentence: one year in prison.
Capone served eight months of that sentence in a cell nicknamed "Park Avenue".
While the regular inmates had a cell like this one - often doubled up with a bunk bed -
Al (C-5527) Capone's "Park Avenue" cell looked like this - with fresh paint, of course -
Capone was reportedly quite pleased with his new quarters. An article published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 20, 1929, described his cell in an article’s whose headline read, "'Very Comfortable' says Capone from Luxury Cell at Eastern Pen.":
The whole room was suffused in the glow of a desk lamp which stood on a polished desk.... On the once-grim walls of the penal chamber hung tasteful paintings, and the strains of a waltz were being emitted by a powerful cabinet radio receiver of handsome design and fine finish....
Al even got fresh flowers daily from the prison's green house and use of the Prison Warden's telephone.
Al Capone was an international celebrity in 1930. His release from Eastern State Penitentiary drew movie cameras, hundreds of on-lookers, and maybe even a few enemies. They gathered outside the prison's only door, all hoping for a glimpse of the famous Chicago gangster.
But warden Smith had other plans. Prison officials feared the crowd in front of Eastern State on March 17, 1930 might include some of Capone's enemies, waiting for his rare public appearance. When warden Smith announced that Capone had already been released the day before, many in the crowd did not believe him and waited for up to five hours later.
Note: Al Capone was sentenced to one year. He served several months in Holmesburg Prison, in Northeast Philadelphia and also a grim looking place, before being transferred to Eastern State, where he served 8 months.
17 comments:
Now here's a post you don't see every day. A tour of prison complete with the history of perhaps the most notorious outlaw of that era. It was very informative.
Awesome history lesson! Who needs the History channel when I have Iggy?
Ole Capone must of had some money talking there since he got in trouble for tax evasion, that was interesting Iggy, thanks!!
That is some history lesson - I bet if they taught this kind of history in school the kids would take mosre of an interest! I never had a clue! Wow!!
Of course I meant to say "more" not mosre - maybe we could make mosre new word to add to our vocabulary? I know, we could name a cone Mosre! I must get a cone right away! :-)
Nothing about his looks indicate a powerful man. weird.
(LOL, I'm laughing at Martha's comment; I'm sending her my cone in the garage who is hiding out from Cals Tran (public works here); I think it will like Florida and will answer to Morse)
interesting Al Capone actually wanted to go into prison, but then what a room he had plus those privileges; I'm sure Alcatraz was a bit of a surprise for him.
betty
Great post. I really think I am going to have to make a visit to "The Pen".... thanks for the history lesson too!
this was very interesting...oh al was a pistol wasen't he?
Even the luxury "cell" is a bit too confining for my liking.
well..I guess you gotta be rich if you're going to prison. Of course Al Capone was one of the most notorious "mafia members" in that era..A godfather with his own "gang"..I just hope I never end up in any cell..I hate being confined!
very informative post!
Park Avenue is a ritzy-chic street in our city.
I guess it has always paid to be rich and/or famous in this country--or infamous--hehe! :):)
That's not the type of furniture I would have pictured as Copone's taste. Interesting! :)
Very interesting :)
I think even Capone's cell was someplace I wouldn't have wanted to be. Great history!
I just finished reading all the parts of your prison stories. You sure seemed to have done some research. I have been to Alcatraz. It was very strange. You have to take a boat ride over there and when you get there, it's as if you can still feel the spirits of the men who once lived there. You can feel them everywhere. I saw all the cells including The bird man of Alcatraz and Capone. I saw the cell where they had the prison break, where they dug out. It was left just like it was when they broke out. The whole experience was very surreal.
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