Although Ness’s work helped lead to Capone’s indictment for Prohibition violations, the government instead focused on prosecuting the mobster for tax evasion and his 1931 conviction on those charges is what sent him to prison. Because the agents supposedly refused to accept bribes, they were dubbed the Untouchables by the press. As a Prohibition agent, Ness and a small team of men raided illegal breweries and other places linked to Capone’s bootlegging operations around Chicago. In fact, much of the memoir was embellished by its co-author, Oscar Fraley. Thanks to federal agent Ness’s best-selling memoir “The Untouchables,” which spawned a TV series and movie, he has been credited as the man who took down Capone. Eliot Ness’s role in Capone’s downfall was exaggerated.

WATCH: Lost Worlds: Al Capone's Secret City on HISTORY Vault 5.

He claimed to be doing a “public service” for Chicagoans, stating: “Ninety percent of the people of Cook County drink and gamble and my offense has been to furnish them with those amusements.”Ħ Scandals That Rocked the Winter Olympics A flashy dresser who liked chatting with reporters and became an international celebrity, Capone didn’t apologize for the way he made his living. By some estimates, his crime syndicate pulled in around $100 million a year, the largest portion from bootlegging, followed by gambling, prostitution, racketeering and other illicit activities. Capone expanded “the outfit,” as he referred to his underworld organization, and went on to become one of America’s leading mobsters. He survived the attack but left Chicago later that year, choosing 26-year-old Capone as his replacement. In January 1925, Torrio was gunned down outside his Illinois home. When Colosimo was killed (possibly as a hit ordered by Torrio and carried out by Capone’s former boss Frankie Yale), Torrio took over as boss and made Capone one of his key aides.

Capone’s crime gang raked in as much as $100 million annually.Īfter arriving in Chicago, Capone worked for Torrio, who was part of a criminal network headed by a man named Big Jim Colosimo.

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