Al Capone

Al Capone (1899-1947) was one of the most notorious and iconic American gangsters. Born in New York, he operated out of Chicago during the prohibition era, running bootlegging operations as well as illegal gambling, prostitution, and protection rackets. Corruption in the Chicago mayor's office and police department helped insulate Capone from consequences. The 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which members of a rival mob were killed by known Capone gang members, helped propel him to "Public Enemy No. 1" status. His fame spread through newspapers to movie screens (influencing Edward G. Robinson's gangster portrayals) and fiction. He was finally brought down not by the FBI but the IRS, convicted of tax evasion for unreported income (much of it from illegal sources) in 1931 and imprisoned for eleven years.