Al Capone: How FBI and Treasury files detail the mobster's downfall

Newly released FBI files detail the downfall of notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. While Capone’s criminal empire was built on gambling, alcohol smuggling, bribery, and prostitution, federal authorities struggled to prosecute him directly for these activities as they often fell outside the FBI's federal jurisdiction at the time.

Investigators eventually targeted Capone’s finances. In 1929, Capone was arrested for contempt of court after claiming he was too ill with pneumonia to appear before a federal jury, despite FBI reports showing him traveling to Bimini and Nassau. The decisive blow came in 1931, when the U.S. Department of the Treasury built a massive case for tax evasion. Following a wealth of evidence, Capone was found guilty, leading to his conviction by Judge James H. Wilkerson.