Court Case
Al capone was a mobster. He was the head of the most profitable crime group of the prohibition era. He “got away” with many many crimes in his time. The one crime that would seem to be the least of his worries, happened to be the one that caught him up, being tax evasion in which he had 23 charges for. A few weeks before Capones trail he had gotten a complete list of the jurors and was giving out money and making big promises in hopes to create a “fixed jury”. October 5th 1931 was the opening date for Capones trail. While the case was about tax evasion other points were brought up of other crimes he committed. In the trail it was presented that Capone owned gambling halls and made a big profit off of them. Chester Bragg testified saying Capone admitted to Bragg that he was the owner of Hawthorne Smoke Shop which was a gambling hall. Leslie Shumway was a cashier at the hall, in court Shumway described the accounting procedures used and estimated the profits of the 2 years he worked there being over half a million dollars. Although Shumway gave the court evidence of Capone being the owner, he hesitated to identify him. Throughout the case many witnesses showed evidence of Al’s lifestyle. The defense was able to present their case in one day, claiming Capone to be a horse-racing addict who lost the majority of his profits from his companies for the years he was in conviction for (1924-29). The last man to address the jury was U.S. Attorney George Johnson. He said, "This is a case that future generations will remember....They will remember it because it will establish whether a man can so conduct his affairs that he is above the government and above the law.” Then the jury left the courtroom to come to a verdict, coming back to the courtroom 8 hours later where they presented Al Capone was guilty and was sentenced to 11 years in a penitentiary.