18. Despite Being The Head Of A Criminal Gang, Capone Was Actually Sent Down For Tax Evasion Because It Was All The FBI Could Pin On Him
Capone's gang ruled Chicago between 1925 and 1931 - running nightclubs, race tracks, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, speakeasies, brothels, gambling houses, as well as carrying out bootlegging, beatings and murders - yet the mobster was never tried for any of these crimes. In fact, the only thing that the FBI could pin on Capone was tax evasion, for which he was charged on 22 counts in October 1931. Also charged with 5,000 violations of the US Prohibition Laws, it was a court ruling in 1927 which proved to be Capone's undoing - as it made it possible for the government to claim taxes from illegal profits. Special Intelligence Unit investigator Frank Wilson - under the leadership of FBI Prohibition agent Eliot Ness - discovered that a gambling house which included Capone's name had made illegal profits, and this started the successful trial against the gangster.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
Capone's gang ruled Chicago between 1925 and 1931 - running nightclubs, race tracks, restaurants, breweries, distilleries, speakeasies, brothels, gambling houses, as well as carrying out bootlegging, beatings and murders - yet the mobster was never tried for any of these crimes. In fact, the only thing that the FBI could pin on Capone was tax evasion, for which he was charged on 22 counts in October 1931. Also charged with 5,000 violations of the US Prohibition Laws, it was a court ruling in 1927 which proved to be Capone's undoing - as it made it possible for the government to claim taxes from illegal profits. Special Intelligence Unit investigator Frank Wilson - under the leadership of FBI Prohibition agent Eliot Ness - discovered that a gambling house which included Capone's name had made illegal profits, and this started the successful trial against the gangster.