Untitled Read online

  3. Fred D. Pasley, Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man (1930; reprint, Freeport, N.Y., 1971), pp. 349–55.

  4. See, for example, Luciano J. Iorizzo and Salvatore Mondello, The Italian Americans, rev. ed. (Boston, 1980), pp. 184–215; and Luciano J. Iorizzo,

  “Crime and Organized Crime,” in The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia, ed. Salvatore J. LaGumina, et al. (New York, 2000), pp. 151–59.

  5. Iorizzo and Mondello, Italian Americans, rev. ed., pp. 269 ff. See also the list of movies and videos in the bibliography at the end of this book.

  6. Henry D. Spalding, Joys of Italian Humor (New York, 1997).

  7. See, for example, Martin Short, Crime Inc.: The Story of Organized Crime (London, 1984), pp. 84–87.

  TIMELINE

  1894

  Gabriele and Teresa Capone immigrate to the United States with sons Vincenzo (Richard James “Two Gun”

  Hart) and Raffaele James (Ralph “Bottles”).

  1895

  Salvatore F. (Frank) Capone born in January.

  1899

  Alphonse (Al) Capone born in Brooklyn.

  1901

  Erminio (John, Mimi) Capone born.

  1906

  Umberto (Albert) Capone born.

  1908

  Amedio (Matthew N.) Capone born.

  1909

  Johnny Torrio goes to Chicago.

  1910

  Rose Capone born and dies.

  1912

  Mafalda Capone born.

  1917

  Capone hired as bouncer in the Harvard Inn, Coney Island, and gets three scars on his face.

  1918

  Capone’s son, Albert Francis (Sonny) born on December 4.

  Sometime prior to Sonny’s birth, Capone probably contracted syphilis. On December 30, Capone marries Mary Josephine (Mae) Coughlin, mother of Sonny.

  1919

  Capone quits working for Yale and becomes a legitimate bookkeeper for Aiello Construction in Baltimore. Torrio opens the Four Deuces. The Prohibition Amendment

  (18th) passed into law on October 28.

  1920

  Volstead Act takes effect on January 19. Big Jim Colosimo killed in Chicago on May 11. Gabriele Capone, Al’s father, dies on November 14.

  1921

  Capone arrives in Chicago and works for Johnny Torrio.

  x v i i i

  T I M E L I N E

  1922

  Ralph Capone arrives in Chicago and works vice for Johnny Torrio. Capone arrested in August for DWI, carrying a concealed weapon, and assault with an automobile; the charges are dropped.

  1922–1923

  Capone promoted to manager of the Four Deuces.

  1923

  William Dever becomes mayor of Chicago in April. Capone taken in as a partner by Johnny Torrio and seeks to distance himself from prostitution. Capone’s wife, son, mother, other brothers, and sister join him in Chicago; all except Ralph live in his house at 7244 Prairie Avenue. Torrio moves operations to Cicero in October. In the fall, Torrio convinces other gangsters to cooperate peacefully in dividing up the rackets in Cicero, then takes his mother to Italy and resettles her there. Capone takes over in Cicero while Torrio is away.

  1924

  Torrio returns in the spring. Frank Capone killed during Cicero’s elections in April. Joe Howard killed (presumably by Capone) on May 8. Torrio arrested on May 19 on Prohibition charge at the Sieben Brewery double-cross by Dion O’Banion. Eddie Tancl killed in November. Dion O’Banion killed (presumably on orders of Torrio, Capone, and/or the Genna Brothers) on November 10.

  1925

  Failed attempt on Capone’s life on January 12, and Torrio seriously wounded and hospitalized on January 24, in retaliation for the O’Banion murder. Torrio fined and sentenced to nine months in jail on February 9 for Sieben Prohibition offense; Capone is left in charge while Torrio is in jail.

  When Torrio is released, he turns leadership over to Capone and leaves Chicago. Angelo Genna killed on May 26. Michael Genna killed on June 13. Anthony Genna killed on July 8. Samuzzo “Samoots” Amatuna killed on November 13.

  1926

  William McSwiggin, assistant state’s attorney, killed on April 27. Weiss and company rake Hawthorne Hotel in Cicero with 5,000 rounds of ammo on September 20. Weiss killed on October 11. Truce declared in meeting at Morri-son Hotel on November 21.

  1927

  Frank “Lefty” Koncil killed on March 11. Failed attempt on Capone’s life at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on March 14, probably by Vincent “The Schemer” Drucci in reprisal for the Weiss slaying. Drucci killed by police on April 4. Capone

  T I M E L I N E

  xix

  visits Los Angeles and is run out of town around December 6.

  Capone arrested and fined $2,600 for a concealed weapon charge in Joliet, Ill., on December 22.

  1928

  Capone goes to Miami, then Miami Beach, on January 4, where he takes a hotel room and leases a house for his wife and family. Capone buys Palm Isle house on Biscayne Bay on March 27. Frankie Yale killed on July 8. Jack Zuta killed on August 1. Arnold Rothstein killed on December 4. All Sicilian criminals’ conference held in Cleveland on December 5.

  1929

  St. Valentine’s Day massacre on February 14 while Capone is in Florida. Murder of Anselmi, Scalise, and Guinta on May 7. Atlantic City Gangland Conference held from May 13 to 16. Capone arrested in Philadelphia on May 17 for a concealed weapon and on May 18 was given one year in prison at Eastern State Penitentiary, his first jail sentence.

  1930

  Capone released on March 17 after serving his sentence.

  Capone arrested in Miami several times in May for suspicion, vagrancy, and perjury, all dismissed. Capone feeds indigents in his Chicago soup kitchens in December.

  1931

  Joe “The Boss” Masseria killed on April 15. Capone indicted on June 5 on 22 counts of income tax evasion; later, on June 12, he is indicted on Prohibition violations as well.

  Meeting in Cleveland, possibly in July, to eliminate Maranzano, reorganize gangs to cooperate, and Americanize without any “boss of bosses.” Salvatore Maranzano killed on September 10. Capone’s income tax trial begins on October 6; he is found guilty on five counts of tax evasion on October 17 and, on October 24, sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $50,000 and court costs of $30,000. The indictment for violation of Prohibition is dropped.

  1932

  Appeals denied on May 3; Capone begins sentence in Atlanta Penitentiary.

  1933

  Prohibition Amendment repealed.

  1934

  Capone transferred to Alcatraz on August 19.

  1939

  Capone transferred to Terminal Island, south of Los Angeles, on January 6. Informant Ed O’Hare killed on November 8. Capone transferred to Lewisburg Penitentiary, Pa., on November 13 for release. Capone paroled on November 16.

  1939

  Dr. Moore begins treatments for Capone’s syphilis at Union Hospital, Baltimore, on November 17.

  x x

  T I M E L I N E

  1940

  Capone arrives home in Palm Isle on March 22 after treatments end.

  1945

  In January, Capone is one of the first civilians to get penicillin treatment for syphilis.

  1947

  Capone dies on January 25.

  Chapter 1

  MAFIA, BLACK HAND, AND

  ORGANIZED CRIME: THE

  BEGINNINGS OF A NATIONAL

  SYNDICATE

  Many Americans too often lump together the terms Mafia, Black Hand, and organized crime as if they were synonymous. In the confusion, they often erroneously associate Al Capone with the Mafia. This is due to the fact that in the effort to simplify, many sources deal inadequately with the subject. The media, through the press, pulp fiction, movies, videos, and so-called documentaries, are especially guilty of taking an uncritical approach in favor of a popular one. So the misconceptions live. A brief o
bjective look at these organizations can shed some light on their nature and on Capone’s role in them.

  First, one must deal with the duality of the Mafia. The Mafia had its origins in western Sicily, where landowners recruited “troops” to protect themselves, their homes, and their families from marauding bands and the extortionate foreigners who had invaded their country and ruled over them. They collected “taxes” from those who wanted protection from the foreign rulers. Thus, young women who were attacked, the weak who were trammeled, the men of respect who were mistreated came to find a swifter and more equitable form of justice in the local Mafia society than what the so-called legitimate governments offered. This system evolved into an association of small, loosely organized criminal bands (cosche) that specialized in cattle rustling, extortion, and kidnapping. Members of the group took the oath of omertà, which bound them never to apply for justice to legally constituted bodies or to assist in the detection of crime.

  Each band took its members from its home town. Outsiders, even Sicilians from another community, were not trusted. If the cosche were ever betrayed, it had to be by one of their own members. This was highly

  2

  A L C A P O N E

  unlikely. Thus, a movement, not criminal at its inception, contained the seeds wherefrom clandestine associations could and did emerge. What made the Mafia work in Sicily was its complete immersion in the native society. Anyone from any walk of life might be involved in it for themselves or for the good of the oppressed.

  When Italians refer to the Mafia in Sicily, the vast majority of them do not take offense. They understand that the Mafia is a sub-group, just as Americans would not feel personally maligned if one were to write about criminals in America. In contrast, when one writes of the Mafia in America, one refers to more than a criminal class. One describes alleged alien conspirators who have for decades been so liberally identified that few Italian Americans can escape the stigma completely. As early as 1888, the Chicago Tribune argued somewhat startlingly that Chicago must have a Mafia because where there are Sicilians there is also a Mafia.

  Since many Italians in Chicago were Sicilians, Chicago had a Mafia.

  Two years later, Chief of Police David C. Hennessy of New Orleans was murdered. Italians were blamed. Americans were told of an alleged conspiracy to assassinate public officials who would not do the bidding of the Mafia. The implication was clear that politicians and government officials were controlled by criminals, not vice-versa. America’s sovereignty was being threatened. This was a heavy burden to which citizens throughout the nation were exposed. They were frightened and made sensitive to the potential for destruction that the alleged Mafia posed.

  The stereotype was reinforced in the early twentieth century by a congressional report in general and E.A. Ross in particular. Ross was one of America’s preeminent sociologists. He charged that Sicilians were prim-itive and ferocious people.1 Other writers concluded that Southern Italians were criminally inclined, “dishonest, hot-blooded, ignorant and dirty.”2 Though these misconceptions were eventually abandoned by most scholars and thinking people, the damage had been done. The criminal stigma stuck. Burned into the minds of most Americans, the criminal label remains in the twenty-first century, though weakened.

  Moreover, little thought was ever given to how a criminal group, if indeed it wanted to transplant itself, could immerse itself and survive in a society that had a different language, set of customs, and religion. Could what took centuries to develop in Sicily work in America overnight?

  Undoubtedly, Italian criminals came to America. Even mafiosi did. But eventually they became Americanized, and that included their criminal ways. Johnny Torrio, Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and others would move Italians into the system of organized crime they found in America. They would help refine it, improve on it, expand its scope nationwide.

  M A F I A , B L A C K H A N D , A N D O R G A N I Z E D C R I M E

  3

  Exacerbating the problem for these immigrants was the fact that they were viewed by Americans as Italians, a monolithic group. In reality, Italy had only recently become a modern nation. Its people were proud of their regional ancestry. They viewed themselves as Sicilians, Neapolitans, Romans, and so on. But they were part of a class system, economically rooted, in which northerners took preeminence over southerners and relegated Sicilians to the lowest ranks. Neapolitans who scorned the conde-scending attitudes and actions directed against them by their northern brethren were just as quick in denigrating their countrymen farther south.

  Even in America, the Sicilians were ostracized by other Italians, who believed them to be of non-Italian and even savage origins. The important point for understanding the Mafia is that Americans believed the immigrants from Italy were a cohesive Italian group. Americans failed to understand the distinctions between Sicilians, Neapolitans, Romans, and so on. Mafia was applied indiscriminately and erroneously to all Italians regardless of their origins. Such a notion made critical examination of the Mafia all but impossible.

  Shortly after the Mafia was making headlines in America, the Black Hand hysteria hit the nation. It hit in the late 1800s, when the masses from southern Italy began seeking economic betterment in America. Virtually none of them could speak English. They were conspicuous. They had few connections to American institutions. Indeed, they found it hard to join any group on an equal-member basis. Under these conditions, the few that were criminally inclined were best suited to, if not limited to, taking advantage of their own kind. Black Hand extortionists were an example of this sort of criminal activity. They terrorized their fellow immigrants. The masses suffered these indignities until they learned that local police and federal forces could protect them against criminal intimidation. Soon, many respectable Italians cooperated with law enforcement.

  Before Prohibition came about in 1920, the Black Hand had been eliminated. By then, talk of the Mafia had also died out. In fact, the word Mafia virtually disappeared from the lexicon throughout the entire Prohibition period. It was not until after World War II that it burst on the scene, despite the rise in the 1920s of the one man most connected to Italian American crime, Al Capone. But he was no mafioso. Later and erroneously, Americans caught up in Mafia hysteria associated him with the Mafia. By then, the fact that it was possible to have Italian Americans involved in organized crime without a Mafia was never considered.

  In sum, Black Hand crimes were a form of extortion characterized by using the anonymous threatening letter. Potential victims were told to pay or die. Bombings of businesses often followed those slow to pay. For

  4

  A L C A P O N E

  more than 15 years, Italian criminals and members of other national groups using the same modus operandi terrified those who had money.

  When Italians had confidence that the local police were not in league with the extortionists, they cooperated and helped bring the Black Handers to justice. But in the end it was the federal government that eliminated such crimes by prosecuting those using the mail for their nefarious practices.

  As organized crime began to develop in the early twentieth century, it depended on an intricate interrelationship between many elements in a society that kept the likes of newcomer Italians in a low place in the total structure. Syndicates, or organized crime sectors, were organized like political machines, and in some cases were indistinguishable from political organizations. It was not unusual for syndicate members to hold office in a party structure or even be elected to a local or state governmental position. Italians were seldom able to be in a position to run for public office.

  Having newly come to America, they, including the criminal element among them, were on the outside looking in. What they saw often were immigrants who preceded them by a generation or two moving into the system. The Irish fit in best, but Germans and Jews were also noticeably present. Prohibition gave the Italians their big opportunity. Al Capone was there in the beginning. He had a chance to become a major player as a
n independent and a national syndicate boss. He was to succeed as the former but not the latter.

  Mafia, Black Hand, and organized crime are clearly three distinct concepts. Making them synonymous makes it difficult to understand the role of people like Al Capone and organized crime in America. The case of Jim Colosimo is instructive. He was a wealthy criminal with plenty of political support who was a prime target of Black Hand extortionists. If organized crime was the monolithic creation people have made it out to be, Colosimo would have been free of such threats. But such was not the case.

  Italian criminals were prime targets for extortionists because they had money. The fact that Black Handers threatened gang leaders indicates that the extortionists did not consider them to be powerful enough to worry about. Possibly they didn’t understand with whom they were dealing. Whatever the case, the machinations of the Black Handers are ample testimony to the lack of solidarity between them and the so-called Mafia.

  Though successful in pimping and gambling, Colosimo owed his position to politicians. Like all successful criminals, he was their lackey, not their boss. Torrio and Capone, for all their power, were no different. They existed by the approval of the politicians and governmental officials. And so it is with all organized crime figures. They are taken down when their

  M A F I A , B L A C K H A N D , A N D O R G A N I Z E D C R I M E

  5

  reach exceeds what is allowed them. As we shall see, both constituted authority and organized crime leaders concluded, at about the same time, that Al Capone had gone too far.

  Though the term Black Hand has passed from common usage, Mafia and organized crime remain. Because Italian Americans had been tainted with the label of criminality, they became synonymous with Mafia, which, in turn, became one and the same with organized crime. Given that, many people concluded that Italians equaled organized crime and organized crime equaled Italians. Even the U.S. government came to take the official position that organized crime and the Mafia—that is, the Italian American criminal—were one and the same. Despite the government’s retreat from that position, many people still hold to it. The fact that it was possible to have Italian Americans involved in organized crime without a Mafia has seldom been considered. Nor can many people envision organized crime existing without Italian Americans despite the considerable evidence that shows multi-ethnic involvement in it. Though primarily a major independent, Capone had some involvement with organized crime, and his outfit’s personnel were decidedly well diversified.