Al Capone Facts: 6 Things You Should Know About Al Capone

5:53 pm  |  18.10.2021

Interesting facts about Alphonse Capone, arguably the most famous gang boss in American history.


Through the various illegal deals, Capone and his gang took mountains of cash and left a trail of dead bodies. Even more impressive than the estimated $ 100 million a year his illegal activities have earned him is the fact that he built his vast power within a few years. Here you can find exciting information about the legendary life of the feared gangster Al Capone, who was declared public enemy number 1:

1. Capone was Already Active in a Gang as a Teenager

Born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, Alphonse Capone was the fourth of nine children. Capone was part of a street gang as a boy and dropped out of school in sixth grade. He later joined the Five Points Gang in Manhattan and worked as a bouncer and bartender at the Harvard Inn, a bar on Coney Island that was then owned by Mafioso Frankie Yale. In 1918 he married Mae Coughlin, with whom he stayed until his death, and had a child named Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone.

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By 1920 Capone had moved to Chicago. According to some stories, he went there because he wanted to hide there after seriously injuring a rival gang member in a fight, while other reports say that Capone was recruited by Johnny Torrio, a former Brooklyn mobster, to go to Chicago come.

2. He Hated His Nickname, Scarface

One day when Capone told a customer’s sister at the Red Hook bar in Brooklyn that she had a cute little bum, he was stabbed by a knife. The sister’s brother, Frank Gallucio, pulls the knife over Capone’s face and gives him a total of three wounds. Despite the brutal attack, Capone never tries to take revenge on his brother.

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He respects the behavior and even agrees with him because he only wanted to protect his sister. Later he even hires him as a bodyguard and lets him work for himself. The media heard of the incident and gave Al Capone the nickname Scarface. He is said to have hated the name so much that he kept trying to cover up his scars in photos.

3. Capone’s Criminal Gang Made up to $ 100 Million Annually Doing Illegal Business

It is estimated that he and his gang made around $ 100 million annually. The largest share from smuggling, followed by gambling, prostitution, extortion of protection money, and other illegal activities.

Capone never apologized for how he made a living. He claimed, “Ninety percent of Cook County’s residents drink and gamble and it was my offense to provide them with these amusements.”

And when America was hit by the Great Depression, he opened the USA’s first soup kitchen and paid $ 2,500 a day to feed the poor. As a result, he is viewed in public and people find him likable.

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4. Capone is Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Tax Evasion

On October 17, 1931, gangster Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $ 50,000 for tax evasion. That was the downfall of the most notorious criminal of the 1920s and 1930s. He was never convicted of his innumerable murders.


And that despite the fact that the police authorities in several American states had received around 5,000 allegations against him. How did he do it? He has evaded law enforcement for years by bribing police and state officials and threatening witnesses.

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5. His Brother was in the Police Force and Worked as a Prohibition Enforcement Officer

James Capone, Al Capone’s eldest brother, was a police officer and fought against the spread of alcohol. Ironically, Al Capone got filthy rich, among other things, with the illegal sale of alcohol during the so-called Prohibition.

6. Al Capone Dies of Simple Pneumonia at the Age of 48 and Has No More Money to Pay for His Own Funeral

After eight years in prison, Capone is finally released from prison for good conduct and is said to have had so much sex with his prostitutes at the time that he contracted the venereal disease syphilis. Apparently, this weakened his immune system so much that he died of simple pneumonia in 1947. This is Al Capone’s official cause of death. When he died, the former millionaire and gang boss was so poor that his brother had to pay for the funeral.

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Did you know some of these impressive facts? Or did you just have in mind what was said about the bloodthirsty mafia boss in the 1983 film “Scarface”?

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