{"id":26887,"date":"2017-11-16T15:13:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T20:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=26887"},"modified":"2017-11-16T15:13:35","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T20:13:35","slug":"parole-for-ailing-gangster-al-capone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/parole-for-ailing-gangster-al-capone.html","title":{"rendered":"Parole for Ailing Gangster Al Capone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of the gangster stereotype in American pop culture stems from the real-life misadventures of Al \u201cScarface\u201d Capone, an Italian American kid from Brooklyn who became the head of the most notorious gang in violent, prohibition-era Chicago. For six years, from 1925 until 1931, Capone flaunted his wealth and controlled politicians and law enforcement officers while ruthlessly gunning down rival gang members. He lived the life of a king, his extravagant lifestyle fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars gained from such illegal activities as bootlegging, gambling and prostitution.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Al Capone, 1930. Credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The government knew of his bootlegging operations, but could not nail him under the Volstead Act. This law, passed on 28 October 1919, defined \u201cintoxicating liquors\u201d to reinforce the Eighteenth Amendment, making Prohibition the law of the land. However well intentioned, Prohibition turned out to be a disaster for the U.S. as organized crime flourished, taking over the now-illegal business of manufacturing, transporting and selling liquor. Many criminal gangs benefited from Prohibition, but nobody flourished more than Capone and his \u201cOutfit\u201d gang in Chicago.<\/p>\n

What finally brought Capone down was a tactic he never saw coming: he was indicted and convicted in 1931 for income tax evasion on the relatively paltry sum of $215,000, and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. He began serving his time in the Atlanta penitentiary on 5 May 1932; in August of 1934 Capone was transferred to gloomy, escape-proof Alcatraz to serve out the rest of his sentence.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Cell 181 in the historic Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay. This cell is where Al Capone spent his prison sentence when he was sent to Alcatraz in August 1934. Credit: Tony the Marine; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was during his time in Alcatraz that a vestige of Capone\u2019s lawless days caught up with him. Back when the police were afraid to touch him, Capone\u2019s gang operated speakeasies, casinos and clubs all over Chicago. One of Capone\u2019s rules was that any woman who wanted to work as a prostitute in his clubs had to first submit to a personal \u201cinterview\u201d with the boss himself. He contracted syphilis, and the doctors at Alcatraz noted Capone had become unbalanced: he was suffering from neurosyphilis, and his mental deterioration was irreversible. Capone spent 1938, his last year at Alcatraz, in the prison hospital. He was transferred to an institution on Terminal Island in California on 6 January 1939, and paroled on November 16.<\/p>\n

Capone was only 40 years old, but he was through; he no longer had the mental capacity to operate a large organized crime ring. He spent some time in a hospital in Baltimore, then retired to a home he kept on Palm Island, Florida. He died there on 25 January 1947, from a heart attack, eight days after turning 48.<\/p>\n

The following two newspaper articles describe Capone\u2019s mental condition and his stay in a Baltimore hospital after he was paroled.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 17 November 1939, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

EX-GANG LEADER ON WAY TO FREEDOM<\/p>\n

BALTIMORE, Friday, Nov. 17. \u2013 (AP) \u2013 Broken, flabby and ailing, \u201cScarface\u201d Al Capone stared vacantly at the ceiling of a $30-a-day hospital suite today, free of prison cells in which he lived for seven years but sentenced now to a lingering brain disease.<\/p>\n

Outside the one-time Chicago gang czar\u2019s room sat a male orderly and a nurse.<\/p>\n

The gangster chief came here secretly yesterday from the federal prison at Lewisburg, Pa., and entered the general hospital as the patient of Dr. Joseph E. Moore, former director of the syphilis division of the John Hopkins Medical Clinic.<\/p>\n

Capone is suffering from paresis \u2013 softening of the brain \u2013 but it was learned that, while his condition was serious, he was in no immediate danger.<\/p>\n

The extent of Capone\u2019s brain affliction remained a medical secret after his physician issued the first formal statement in the case, noting only that the former Chicago gangster \u201cis ill and is in need of hospital care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement, issued over the names of Dr. Moore and Dr. Clyde D. Frost, Union Memorial director, said \u201cpublic interest is such as to make it very difficult for him to receive the treatment he needs\u2026 We ask cooperation in this situation to avoid serious injury to the patient\u2019s condition and grave disturbance to his family\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicago police intensified their investigation of a possible link between Capone\u2019s old organization and last week\u2019s shotgun slaying of Edward J. O\u2019Hare, president of the Sportsman\u2019s Park race track.<\/p>\n

Capone left Sunday night from Terminal Island prison, San Pedro, Calif., where he had been transferred from Alcatraz because of his physical condition. With his guards, he left the train at Harrisburg, Pa., and motored to Lewisburg, where he was formally released.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, Washington), 17 November 1939, page 20<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a transcription of this article:<\/p>\n

U.S. Not Guarding Capone, Says Murphy<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, Friday, Nov. 17 \u2013 (AP) \u2013 Attorney-General Murphy said today that Al Capone, now under treatment in a Baltimore Hospital, was not under personal surveillance by the Justice Department, and that no effort was being made to protect the ex-racketeer from reported threats.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Murphy told reporters at the White House that the department was keeping an eye on Capone. He explained today, however, that this was a misunderstanding for which he took the responsibility.<\/p>\n

Asked whether a guard over Capone on his four-day train trip from the West Coast to Lewisburg, Pa., was intended to protect him from his enemies, Murphy said: \u201cNothing has been brought to our attention about Capone\u2019s enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done nothing at all in that regard,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cWhile we do not want anything to happen to a private citizen, it is not the proper concern of the government. Any surveillance (of Capone) is more to prevent his return to activities outside the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

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