Capone Convicted: Tax Evasion Ends the Kingpin Era
Federal prosecutors couldn't prove Al Capone ordered the St. Valentine's Day Massacre or any of the hundreds of murders attributed to his organization. So they got him on taxes. IRS agent Frank Wilson traced Capone's spending to prove income he never reported. The trial began on October 6, 1931, and the judge swapped jury panels at the last minute after learning Capone had bribed the original jurors. On October 17, Capone was convicted on five counts of tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years, the harshest tax penalty ever imposed at the time. He served time at Atlanta and then Alcatraz, where syphilis destroyed his mental faculties. Released in 1939, he spent his final years at his Miami estate, his mind reduced to that of a child. He died in 1947 at 48. Chicago's organized crime barely noticed his absence.
October 17, 1931
95 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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