1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: I'm editor Kandice Gibson, joined today by Josh Curious like 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: a cat Clark. How's it going, Josh, It's going pretty well. 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: Pretty well? How about you? I'm doing great? Um. You know, 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: it's funny. This exchange of pleasantries has brought to mind 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: one of histories most notorious criminals. You and I were 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: talking about him this morning, ever coffee al capound scarface. 9 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: Gotta love him. The weird thing is, you know, he's 10 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: become this larger than life figure. He was running around 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: the twenties, you know, Chicago and all sorts of other 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: cities under his thumb. But when you're starting to dig 13 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: into the guy, it turns out like he needs no exaggeration. 14 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: He really lived this enormous life, like he really was 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: public Enemy number one in Chicago. In one year, he 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: made lots of lots of money, right, I've seen amounts 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: of money. Seven he groaged one hundred million dollars and 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: today that's equivalent to about one point two billions. So 19 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: he's like Warren Buffett with the Tommy gun or something. Yeah. 20 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: Pretty much. You know. The weird thing is he started 21 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: out as a bouncer in a bar in Chicago for 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 1: his boss, Johnny Torrio, right, and he moved his way 23 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: up to enforce her and an enforcer somebody that you 24 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,919 Speaker 1: don't want to see when you owe Johnny Torrio money. 25 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: But the thing is is to be an enforcer, all 26 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: you have to do is have some muscle, you don't 27 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: need much intellect, and a willingness to break someone's legs 28 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 1: should the occasion arise. Yeah, but he was really smart too. Um. 29 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: When Johnny Torrio essentially retired, he was able to use 30 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: his while to climb to the top. Yeah. He consolidated 31 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: Chicago's underworld. So my question is he was this great 32 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: gangster who committed all these brutal crimes and made all 33 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: this money. Why was it that they could only pin 34 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: tax evasion on him? I mean, is that even right? 35 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: Was there something else that I'm missing? Is that fact 36 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: or fiction? No, that's fact And it's funny because this 37 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: is not an expression we would use in today's society 38 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: at all. But the Treasury Department actually was quoted as 39 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 1: saying that al Capone had a natural Italian secretiveness about him. 40 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: And Candice just made air quotes. Indeed, and at the 41 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: height of his I guess killing spree and all of 42 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: his crazy activity, one year there was sixty four people 43 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: murdered under his rule, and in previous years other gang 44 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: activity murders resulted only to like sixteen the year before 45 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: he consolidated powers six And he was bribing people all 46 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: across the city, police, politicians, prosecutors. He had everyone under 47 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: some just like you were saying. And he was so 48 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: careful about what he did. When the St. Valentine's Day 49 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: massacre occurred and some rival gangs gang members were slain, 50 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: he was not only far removed at his beat outs 51 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: in Florida, he had a doctor's note saying that he 52 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: was on bed rest. Please excuse Mr Capone. He didn't 53 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: murder anybody today, Rent. Yeah, he's not good participating in 54 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: jim So anyway, after all this, essentially he was supposed 55 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: to up in court to be questioned about the massacre 56 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: and he didn't show up. So he's hold in contempt 57 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: and I got the FBI involved. So the FBI and 58 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: the Treasury Department started building a paper trail uh to 59 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: see what Capone had been up to and Essentially, they 60 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: found out that he hadn't been paying any taxes on 61 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,679 Speaker 1: any of that enormous amount of money that he had earned. Sure, 62 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: which probably wasn't a big surprise for him. No, it wasn't. 63 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: I mean, the guy never even had a bank account 64 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: in his life, and he only endorsed one check in 65 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: his lifetime. But um, they held him in contempt of 66 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: the court. And also they got him for tax evasion. 67 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: So he was supposed to serve ten years in federal prison, 68 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: one year in Chicago. I understand when he got out 69 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: he had contracted syphilis, right, and I think his doctor 70 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: wrote that by the time he died he had the 71 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: intellect of a twelve year old child, a very filthy, 72 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: rich twelve year old. He probably still could have been 73 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: a bouncer in a bar by that. Anyway. If you 74 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: want to learn even more about al Capone, read why 75 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: was tax evasion the only thing penned on? Said al 76 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: Capone on How stuff Works. For more on this and 77 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics is at how stuff works dot com. 78 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: Let us know what you think, send an email to 79 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: podcast at how stuff works dot com.