INTRODUCTION
Al Capone, a name that still echoes through the annals of American crime history, was one of the most notorious gangsters of all time. Born in 1899 to Italian immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, Alphonse Gabriel Capone rose from humble beginnings to become the kingpin of organized crime in Chicago during the Prohibition era.
Known for his charismatic personality and ruthless tactics, Capone built an empire based on bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling. He cultivated a Robin Hood-like image, opening soup kitchens during the Great Depression while simultaneously orchestrating brutal acts of violence and murder against rival gangs.
[He was] a man whose story continues to serve as a powerful reminder of the consequences of the misuse of power and of making poor choices.
Join me here in Chicago, a city where every shadow held a secret, every handshake could be a deal with the devil, and at the centre of it all, pulling the strings, stood the undisputed king of America’s criminal underworld.
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CAPONE – THE FORMATIVE YEARS
Born on 17 January 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, Capone was the fourth of nine children born to Italian immigrants Gabriele and Teresa Capone. His father was a barber, and his mother a seamstress, and they worked hard trying to provide for their large family in the crowded Navy Yard tenements of New York.
Young Alphonse’s early life was typical of many first-generation Americans of the time, characterized by poverty and the struggle for identity and purpose in a rapidly changing society.
Capone’s formal education was brief and unremarkable. He attended school until the sixth grade, showing some promise as a student, but known for his quick temper and a tendency towards disobedience.
It was during these formative years that Capone first came into contact with the street gangs that would shape his future. The Brooklyn neighbourhood where he grew up was a breeding ground for criminal activity, and young Al Capone was drawn to the excitement and potential for quick money that the criminal lifestyle promised.
Then at the age of 14, Capone’s life took a significant turn when he was expelled from school for hitting a female teacher. This event marked the end of his formal education.
He initially took on various legitimate jobs – as a candy store clerk, a bowling alley pin boy, and in a book bindery – but these were interspersed with, and eventually overtaken by his criminal activities.
It was during his teenage years that Capone became involved with small local gangs such as the Junior Forty Thieves and the Brooklyn Rippers.
Under the tutelage of gang leaders like Johnny Torrio and Frankie Yale, Capone learned the intricacies of the criminal underworld – how to run rackets, intimidate rivals, and navigate the corrupt political landscape of the era.
He then moved on to the Manhattan based Five Points Gang, one of the most powerful criminal organisations in New York at that time.
It was also during this period that Capone acquired his famous nickname, “Scarface.” In 1917, while working as a bouncer in a Brooklyn brothel, Capone made an insulting remark to a woman at the bar.
Her brother, Frank Galluccio, took offense and slashed Capone’s face three times with a knife, leaving him with the distinctive scars that would become his trademark. Capone, ever the image-conscious gangster, would later claim the scars were wounds from his service in World War I – a war he never actually fought in.
TURNING POINTS
The year 1919 marked a turning point in Capone’s life, and in American history. The passage of the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, created an enormous opportunity for criminal enterprises. Capone, recognizing the potential for immense profits, threw himself wholeheartedly into the bootlegging business – the illegal alcohol business.
At the invitation of his mentor Johnny Torrio, Capone moved to Chicago in 1919. [He] quickly proved his worth, demonstrating a keen business acumen and a willingness to use violence and stand-over tactics to achieve his goals.
He started as a bouncer in a Torrio-owned brothel, but quickly moved up to more lucrative and powerful positions. Capone showed a talent for organization and innovation, expanding the [Chicago] Outfit’s operations beyond mere bootlegging to include prostitution, gambling, and protection rackets.
Capone’s rapid rise to the top of the Chicago crime world was accelerated in January 1925, when Torrio was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Torrio decided to retire, and handed control of the organization to Capone, then only 26 years old.
Capone expanded its operations dramatically. He was a different kind of gang leader – flamboyant, media-savvy, and unafraid to flaunt his wealth and power.
One of his most famous quotes was,
“You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun.”
EXTREME VIOLENCE
Capone’s reign at the top of Chicago’s underworld was marked by extreme violence. The most infamous incident of his career, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, occurred on February 14, 1929.
Seven members of the rival North Side Gang, led by George “Bugs” Moran, were lined up against a garage wall and executed by men dressed as police officers. While Capone was in Florida at the time and was never officially linked to the killings, it was widely believed that he had ordered the hit.
But despite the brutality of his methods and the intense law enforcement efforts to bring Capone down, Capone still managed to cultivate a Robin Hood-like image among some segments of the public. During the Great Depression, he opened one of the first soup kitchens in Chicago, providing meals to thousands of unemployed and hungry citizens.
It was in the shadows of Chicago’s bustling streets that Al Capone’s criminal empire thrived. At its heart was the lifeblood of Prohibition-era America: bootlegging – the illegal trade and smuggling of alcohol. Capone’s vast network of breweries and distilleries pulsed with activity, while his smuggling routes from Canada kept the city’s saloons awash in illicit alcohol.
But Capone’s reach extended far beyond just this illegal alcohol trade. His men stalked the streets, as they collected ‘protection’ money from trembling shopkeepers. Those who refused often found their businesses in ruins.
At night, the city’s underbelly came alive. In dimly lit backrooms, the clinking of poker chips and the whir of roulette wheels filled the air. Capone’s illegal casinos were a siren song to those seeking fortune, though it seemed that few ever realized that the house always won.
CAPONE’S CHICAGO
Election days in Chicago were a farce under Capone’s watch. Voters found themselves nudged – or shoved – towards certain candidates, while ballot boxes mysteriously overflowed with votes for those who had bought Al Capone’s favour.
For those who dared to oppose him, or stand against him, Capone had a chilling solution, with hitmen always ready to silence a problem permanently.
Then there was the cold, hard cash that flowed like a river through the city’s institutions, greasing palms from beat cops to high-court judges, ensuring that justice always turned a blind eye to Al Capone’s activities. This was Capone’s Chicago, a shadowy world where gangsters and corrupt officials ruled the streets.
But there was one man at the heart of Capone’s criminal empire who straddled the line between lawlessness and legitimacy: Edward Joseph O’Hare, known as ‘Easy Eddie’ because of his charm, his wheeling and dealing and his ability to smooth over difficult conflicts. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was a well-educated man with a background in finance.
RABBITS AND TAXES
Edward O’Hare met a local inventor and dog lover named Owen P. Smith. In 1909, Smith had developed a mechanical rabbit for use in dog racing.
Without exception, the people who were operating dog tracks in those days were Mob guys, who willingly paid Smith and O’Hare a percentage of the gate for their use of the mechanical rabbit.
When Smith died in 1927, O’Hare was able to gain complete control of the rights to the mechanical rabbit for himself. At about the same time, O’Hare left his wife in St Louis and moved with his only son, Butch, to Chicago.
Capone recognized that O’Hare’s business acumen and sharp ability to manipulate the law could help manage the increasingly complex finances of his criminal enterprise.
Soon O’Hare’s role was crucial in keeping Capone’s operations running smoothly. He used his legal expertise to find loopholes, bribe officials, and ensure that Capone’s illicit profits appeared legitimate on paper.
His work was so effective that he became one of Capone’s most trusted advisors, privy to the inner workings of the criminal empire.
Capone was initially careless about reporting his income to the authorities. O’Hare recognized the danger in this approach and worked to create a system that would make Capone’s income appear legitimate while minimizing his tax liability.
The relationship between Capone and O’Hare was of mutual benefit. Capone provided O’Hare with a lucrative position and protection, while O’Hare’s financial acumen helped keep Capone’s empire running smoothly – and initially beyond the reach of the law.
However, their partnership was not without its tensions. There were reportedly instances where O’Hare tried to counsel Capone against some of his more extreme actions, fearing they would draw unwanted attention from law enforcement.
However, despite O’Hare’s best efforts, the sheer scale of Capone’s operations and the gangster’s high profile eventually drew the attention of federal authorities.
PRESIDENTIAL INVESTIGATION
In 1929, President Herbert Hoover made it a priority to bring down Capone, and he dispatched a team of Treasury agents, led by Eliot Ness, to Chicago to investigate the gangster’s activities.
The investigation into Capone’s finances put enormous pressure on O’Hare. He found himself in the difficult position of trying to maintain the facade of legitimacy around Capone’s income while federal agents scrutinized every transaction. In the stress of this situation, O’Hare began to fear for his own future.
He was intimately familiar with the details of Capone’s financial operations. There were concerns within Capone’s inner circle that O’Hare might be tempted to cooperate with the authorities to save himself.
The turning point came in 1931 when Capone was indicted [on] 22 counts of tax evasion. The case against Capone was built largely on financial records and evidence of his lavish spending, areas that fell squarely within O’Hare’s purview. As the trial approached, speculation grew about whether O’Hare would testify against his boss.
AT A CROSSROADS
Easy Eddie found himself increasingly conflicted. He dearly loved his son, Butch, and the weight of his criminal associations began to weigh heavily on his conscience. He started to question the example he was setting for his child and the legacy he would leave behind.
So, when Butch was about to graduate from high school, and he told his father of his burning ambition to go to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in Maryland, Eddie O’Hare was faced with a difficult decision.
Entry into the Naval Academy in Annapolis required a nomination from an official source, a US Representative or a US Senator in your district or state.
Now, a St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter, John Rogers, was both a personal friend of Eddie O’Hare and the best buddy of one of the key people on the prosecution team. John Rogers knew that O’Hare desperately wanted to get his son into the US Naval Academy.
So Rogers first went to his friend on the Capone prosecution team, and hatched a plan to get Butch into the naval academy if Eddie O’Hare would tell everything the Federal Agents wanted to know about Al Capone.
Easy Eddie found himself at a crossroads, torn between loyalty to his criminal connections and the love for his son and the possibility of a promising career for him.
In a dramatic turn of events, O’Hare made the decision to cooperate with federal authorities. He began providing crucial information about Capone’s operations, particularly details about the mob boss’s tax evasion schemes.
The investigation was led by Frank J. Wilson of the Intelligence Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Wilson and his team painstakingly built a case against Capone, tracking his spending and income over several years.
CAPONE JAILED
The information O’Hare provided was pivotal in the successful prosecution of Al Capone on charges of tax evasion in 1931. The trial, which began in October of that year, was a media sensation. Capone, confident of acquittal, was shocked when the jury returned a guilty verdict on all 22 counts of income tax evasion.
He was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, effectively ending his seven-year reign as Chicago’s crime king. He was fined $50,000, and charged for court costs, in addition to $215,000 plus interest on unpaid taxes.
Easy Eddie’s cooperation came at a great personal risk. He knew that betraying Capone could and would likely cost him his life. But he was driven by a desire to redeem himself in the eyes of his son and to do what he believed was right.
His decision cleared the way for Butch to attend the naval academy, but it put a target on Eddie’s back and marked the end of his criminal career. It also signed his death warrant in the eyes of his former associates. He received a note that read: “Capone is mad. He is enraged. He will kill you.”
A week before Al Capone was released from jail, on the afternoon of November 8, 1939, Eddie O’Hare left his office and got into his black 1939 Lincoln coupe. He drove away from the Sportsman’s Park racetrack, heading first north on Cicero and then northeast on Ogden, toward Downtown Chicago.
As Eddie O’Hare approached the intersection of Ogden and Rockwell, a car roared up beside him and opened fire with repeated blasts of shotgun slugs, killing Eddie instantly.
On November 16, 1939, the notorious gangster Al Capone was released from Alcatraz prison after serving seven years, six months, and fifteen days. He had paid all fines and back taxes owed to the government.
DECLINING HEALTH
The years in prison had left Capone mentally incapable of resuming his involvement in gangland politics. Suffering from paresis, a neurological disorder caused by untreated syphilis, he had deteriorated significantly during his incarceration.
Immediately upon his release, he entered a hospital in Baltimore to receive treatment for his brain condition. Following his medical care, Capone traveled to his estate on Palm Island in Biscayne Bay, near Miami, Florida.
In 1946, examinations by his personal physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist concluded that Capone’s mental capacity had been reduced to that of a 12-year-old child.
Capone spent the final years of his life in seclusion on his Florida estate, surrounded by his wife and immediate family. On January 25, 1947, at the age of 48, Capone passed away due to a stroke and subsequent pneumonia.
WRONG CHOICES
In the end, Al Capone’s life reads like a modern American tragedy – a tale of immense talent and opportunity squandered, of power achieved and then lost, of a man who rose from nothing to control a criminal empire, only to end his days as a physically and mentally broken invalid. His story continues to serve as a powerful reminder of the consequences of making poor choices.
So, when it’s all said and done, is there any hope for Al Capone or people like him who have made seriously wrong choices in their lives. It’s an important question, because in a sense, and to some degree, we’ve all made serious mistakes in our lives and done things we regret. So, what does that mean regarding our eternal future and well-being?
Well, the good news is, there is hope, no matter what our past experience has been or is. Because you see, God’s love is unconditional. He still loves us despite the mistakes we have made. That’s the very heart of the Christian message. That’s what the Good News of Jesus is all about. And there’s plenty of evidence in the Bible to demonstrate it.
MANASSEH’S STORY
Consider for example, the story of Manasseh. Just as Al Capone’s life is a tale about the corrupting influence of misused power and regrettable choices, so is the story of Manasseh, King of Judah in the Bible.
At the age of twelve, Manasseh ascended to the throne, but unlike his father Hezekiah, who was known for his noble and upright behaviour, Manasseh turned away from God and embarked on a path of darkness and tyranny.
As Manasseh grew into adulthood, he plunged deeper into idolatry, witchcraft, sorcery and divination. And then, in a horrifying act that epitomized his departure from God’s ways, Manasseh even sacrificed his own son in a fire.
As Manasseh’s reign of terror intensified, it was marked by unprecedented violence and immorality, with innocent blood staining the streets of Jerusalem.
Over his 55-year reign, the longest of any monarch of the kingdom, the Bible paints a grim picture of Manasseh’s reign, stating that he led his nation and Jerusalem so far astray that they committed more evil than the pagan nations surrounding Israel. Despite repeated warnings from God, Manasseh continued to lead his kingdom into evil practices.
Finally, divine retribution came in the form of the Assyrian army. The Assyrians, renowned for their military might and brutal conquests, invaded Judah. Manasseh was captured, humiliated with a hook placed through his nose and bronze shackles on his feet, and dragged off to Babylon.
As he endured the gruelling march to Babylon, stripped of his power and dignity, Manasseh reached his lowest point. And it was in this moment of utter despair that Manasseh humbled himself before the God of his fathers and prayed fervently. He turned to the God he had long rejected, humbling himself and seeking forgiveness.
To the astonishment of many, God heard his plea and responded with an act of extraordinary and boundless mercy. Not only was Manasseh forgiven, but he was even restored to his throne in Jerusalem. The Bible record says,
“And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” (2 Chronicles 33:13)
Manasseh returned to Jerusalem a changed man, clearing the temple of idols, restoring proper worship, and urging his people to serve the Lord. Manasseh’s personal reformation was complete.
This story in the Bible serves as a powerful example of God’s willingness to forgive even the most shocking and awful sins when genuine repentance occurs. It’s a powerful testament to the possibility of redemption, no matter how far we may have strayed or separated ourselves from God.
And that’s true for all of us, even Al Capone. And that’s because God’s mercy is so vast, and His forgiveness so complete and unconditional. In fact, God’s forgiveness is so all-encompassing, that when He forgives, it’s as if the sin or mistake never occurred. When God forgives, it’s gone forever.
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Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that we serve a God who loves us and cares for us with an unending and unconditional love. Please forgive us for the mistakes we have made and please draw us close to you and grant us the inner-peace and happiness that only You can provide. Please bless us and our families. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
