How Did Al Capone Influence Chicago

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Al Capone was one of America’s biggest and most powerful gangsters in the roaring 20’s. Capone owned the city of Chicago, including everything from the cops to the thugs of this crime filled city. He had ownership of almost all speakeasies, prostitution rackets, gambling houses, distilleries, breweries, and racetracks in the city. Capone was the main source of crime in Chicago. Al Capone’s influence reached every aspect of life in Chicago due to the wealth, power, and ownership he had acquired. Capone’s early life began in New York City, where he was introduced to crime at a young age. According to American Villains, author Marguerite Plummer writes, “Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York. Shortly later he joined to gangs at an, early age The Forty Thieves and the Brooklyn Rippers,” (99). Capone was introduced to the ways of crime at a young age. Capone later joined a higher power gang called the Five Points Gang. It was headed by Frankie Yale in Manhattan. Plummer also writes about Capone’s start …show more content…

The New York Times writes, “Al Capone was found guilty here tonight on five of the twenty-three counts contained in the two indictments brought against him by the Federal Government for income tax evasion from 1924 to 1929,” (1). Capone was later sentenced to the Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May of 1932. Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhea. He was also suffering from withdrawal symptoms from his cocaine addiction. Capone was then sent to the newly opened Alcatraz prison, located off of San Francisco Bay, on January 6, 1939. Capone was released on parole later that year and spent his last years retired from crime at his mansion in Palm Island Florida. Capone suffered from a stroke on January 21, 1947. Following his stroke, the big boss of Chicago died in his home on January 25, 1947. Chicago’s king had retired

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