Knowra Al Capone Al Capone Al Capone was an American gangster who led Chicago’s criminal underworld during Prohibition. His 1931 conviction for tax evasion imprisoned him after authorities failed to convict him of murder or racketeering.
Johnny Torrio : An Italian-American gangster who mentored Al Capone and led Chicago’s criminal organization before him. Torrio built the organization Capone inherited and briefly returned to after surviving an assassination attempt.
Prohibition in the United States : The nationwide ban on producing, selling, and transporting alcoholic beverages, enforced from 1920 to 1933. The ban created the illegal alcohol market that financed Capone’s organization.
St. Valentine's Day Massacre : The 1929 killing of seven members and associates of Chicago’s North Side Gang by gunmen posing as police. The massacre intensified public outrage over gang violence, although Capone was never convicted for it.
Organized crime : Coordinated criminal activity conducted by structured groups for profit, power, or both. Capone’s organization became a highly visible example of urban organized crime.
Eliot Ness : A Prohibition-era federal agent who led a team targeting Chicago’s illegal breweries and distilleries. Ness’s raids disrupted Capone’s bootlegging operations, though they did not secure his conviction.
Bootlegging : The illegal manufacture, transport, or sale of goods, especially alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. Bootlegging gave Capone’s organization a major source of revenue and a basis for territorial conflict.
Capone tax case : The federal prosecution that convicted Al Capone of income-tax offenses in 1931. This case converted evidence about concealed criminal income into a prison sentence.
Kefauver Committee : A United States Senate committee that investigated interstate organized crime in 1950 and 1951. Its televised hearings revived public attention to syndicates and the legacy of figures such as Capone.
Frank J. Wilson : A United States Treasury investigator whose work helped build the tax-evasion case against Al Capone. Wilson traced financial evidence that prosecutors used when Capone’s criminal income could be taxed.
Chicago Outfit : An organized-crime syndicate based in Chicago that developed under Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. It was the criminal organization Capone led and expanded during Prohibition.
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