The Making of the Mob: Chicago (2016) s01e05 Episode Script
Judgment Day
1 (narrator) Previously on "The Making of The Mob: Chicago" After taking his position as the king of the Chicago underworld Al Capone begins to spiral out of control.
(baseball bat thuds) So, when his Irish rivals try to take down his top hitman (gunfire, glass shattering) This is the last time anyone tries to go up against us.
(narrator) Capone orders the biggest gangland hit in American history.
(shells clanking on ground) But the massacre triggers a government crackdown on the mob boss and a new threat arises when a young prohibition agent named Eliot Ness takes aim at Capone.
("Eliot") Prohibition Bureau! (narrator) As the pressure increases Ness raided another one of our breweries (narrator) the ruthless mobster decides to do the unthinkable.
We'll just have to kill him.
(crashing) (engine sputtering, birds chirping) Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness narrowly escapes a hit ordered by Al Capone.
For Ness, the fight has now become personal and he decides to show Capone that not only is he alive but he's going to do everything he can to bring down the kingpin's empire.
Over the years, I've seen some cat-and-mouse games between law enforcement and organized crime.
Sometimes it becomes personal.
They're going to think all day and night about how to get you.
("Eliot") Is this his biggest brewery? - (agent) Yeah.
- This could be our big day.
Good work.
Let's hit him hard and I want to get a man from the press.
We need to tell this story to the people of Chicago.
(phone ringing) Yeah.
(narrator) Determined to prove to Capone that he's not intimidated, Eliot Ness and his team of untouchables execute a series of high profile raids.
("Eliot") Prohibition Bureau! (handcuffs click) (narrator) Over the course of months they destroy more than 200 thousand gallons of beer worth the modern day equivalent of 134 million dollars and the newspapers cover it all.
(David) Who is Eliot Ness? Is he an idealist? Press hound? Is he a guy who's just out to fight the good fight? The answer is he's a combination of all these things.
He does want to make a name for himself.
And he does want to crack down on what he thinks is an incredible problem in Chicago.
(narrator) To culminate his crusade Ness has one more move.
(phone ringing) Yeah? I think you should take this.
("Eliot") Take a look out your window.
I think you'll like the view.
(phone clicks) (phone clicks) That son of a bitch.
(mutters) Son of a bitch.
(narrator) In a brazen display of defiance against Chicago's notorious gangster Ness gathers the bootlegging trucks he's seized from Capone and parks them right outside the Lexington Hotel.
Al thought there's no way in the world that Eliot Ness was gonna put Al Capone behind bars, but Ness came in and he started to defy the system and I think Al gets nervous.
They call Al Capone a bootlegger, huh? Yeah, it's bootlegging on the back of the trucks but when a host at the back of the club hands it to you on a silver platter it's hospitality.
(flash bulbs clicking) All I've ever done was supply a public demand.
They say I violate the Prohibition Law who doesn't, huh? Tell me that much.
(reporter) Is it true Eliot Ness has you on the run? Eliot Ness has me on the run? That's ridiculous.
(reporter 2) How does your wife feel about you right now? My wife is feeling fine, but I'm sick and tired of the lies and the attacks on my family.
(reporter 3) If these are all lies why is Uncle Sam after you? Who's saying that? Who's saying that? You tell me who's saying that and I'll fix them, huh? (reporter 4) Are you sure you're Ok guys, we're done here.
We're done.
It's over.
Get out of the way.
- ("Al") Sons of bitches.
- Come on.
Yeah, get a picture of that.
- We're through.
That's enough, get out of here.
Get a picture of that.
Get out of here.
(Jonathon) I think Al Capone's biggest mistake was arrogance.
He wanted to give interviews to reporters.
He really wanted to be seen as a star.
He loved the attention.
So the ego got him.
And that just put a target on his back.
(narrator) But what Capone doesn't realize is that Eliot Ness and the Prohibition Bureau aren't the only ones trying to take him down.
For the past four years another government agency with more manpower and resources than Ness.
Has been going after the infamous kingpin the Internal Revenue Service.
The Federal Government's attack on Al Capone is two pronged.
On the one hand there's a special squad of prohibition agents led by Eliot Ness.
Their task is to attack the Capone gang's source of income from bootlegging.
Secondly, there's an IRS investigation into him for income tax evasion.
He never filed a tax return much less paid taxes.
(phone ringing) Leading the IRS investigation is an accountant known for his meticulous attention to detail.
His name is Frank Wilson.
Wilson was relentless, he didn't mind spending endless hours just looking through papers, tryin' to build a financial case.
Not sexy.
But it was very effective in putting people away.
(narrator) Despite his efforts Wilson has been unable to find concrete evidence of Capone's income.
The effort to get Capone was riddled with all sorts of quirks.
Because of course everything was off the books in the Prohibition era.
(narrator) But Wilson has a secret weapon (roulette ball spinning) an undercover agent working within Capone's organization.
Blackjack, right there.
(narrator) By 1931 Al Capone rules over a massive illegal empire and is estimated to be worth the modern day equivalent of nearly 300 million dollars.
But what he doesn't realize is that one of the men working under him is actually an undercover IRS agent.
(coin rattles) For the past two years Mike Malone has worked to gain the trust of Capone's gang learning how the organization works from the inside.
Joe, make sure to work closely with Ricca on that.
Ok, Al.
We'll step up security ("Al") Good.
I overheard some talk of them losing some (Robert) Intelligence gathering is the stock and trade of a FBI agent, developing relationships with people and getting information to paint the picture and then figure out the mousetrap you have to set in place to hold it accountable.
(chatter) ("Mike") Things are going pretty well tonight.
Poker's up.
There's more money flowing here than I've ever seen before.
That's what I like to hear.
- I told you - What was that? You ever have any more problems with those Irish guys you - How you doin'? - Hey.
How's it going? - Good.
Hey, Paulie.
- Yeah.
("Paul") Look at this guy.
Doing good? (laughs) Yeah.
Good to see you.
You guys have a good day, huh? Thank you so much.
See you, boss.
(narrator) With his every move being tracked without his knowledge Capone remains focused on the one problem he knows he needs to solve stopping Eliot Ness' raids.
And he thinks he finally has a way to do it.
We're moving in on another brewery tomorrow morning.
Let's get a member of the press along too.
Eliot Ness would famously summon newspaper photographers and reporters to be there when he crashed through the doors of these places.
He liked the attention, he liked the drama.
We want to send a message.
Think they'll be interested in what they see behind those doors.
("Eliot") The address is 3901.
We move fast on this one.
(narrator) But this time, Capone has a plan to deal with him by paying off the local telephone companies in exchange for wiretaps on the phone lines of Ness and his agents.
This is great.
("Eliot") We need to send a message.
I don't care what it takes.
(flash bulbs clicking) Here we go.
(flash bulb clicking) (narrator) After his brewery raid is a bust Eliot Ness is left humiliated.
(glasses clink) You did good.
Good job, Nitti.
(narrator) And once again Al Capone has evaded the law.
But while he neutralizes one threat the mobster is unaware that another is closing in.
(phone ringing) (narrator) IRS Special Agent Frank Wilson has been conducting his own investigation into Capone's finances.
But despite months of analyzing evidence Wilson hasn't found anything that directly links Capone to his illegal rackets so he targets the gangster's inner circle and finds a personal bank account owned by Capone's head of finances, Frank Nitti showing hundreds of thousands of dollars in untaxed income.
Frank Nitti was essentially, uh, the manager that worked under Al Capone.
He was the bookkeeper, so to speak.
If you're gonna supply booze to the whole city of Chicago, obviously you need a front office to run that.
(agent) Frank Nitti, you're under arrest.
For what? Get up.
Is this really necessary? (handcuffs clicking) (narrator) After a short trial, Nitti is sent to jail.
Frank Nitti was one of the smarter guys in the operation.
Also, somebody Capone could really count on.
When he went to prison, it really hurt his organization.
(snorting) ("Al") So who is this guy? ("Paul") Frank Wilson.
Good.
Now get rid of him.
Al, listen, this guy is with the IRS.
This isn't somebody you can take out like that.
He's a problem.
Take him out.
That's it.
You're going to regret this mark my words.
(narrator) Capone's men begin to come up with a plan to take out Wilson but what they don't realize is that Mike Malone has heard everything.
(narrator) After finding out the name of the IRS agent targeting him Al Capone orders a hit on Frank Wilson.
(gun clicking) (thundering) (coin rattling) (phone dial clicking) (phone ringing) (ringing continues) (sighing) Hello? ("Mike") Frank, listen to me very carefully.
Mike? Get out of bed and meet me at the place around the corner in 20.
I'll explain everything when you get there.
Can't this wait till the morning? They're coming for you, Frank.
Get the hell out of there.
Right now.
(door smashes open) (guns cocking) Thank you.
(dishes clank) If you want to back off I get it.
I want to nail this son of a bitch.
I agree.
I'm working on it.
Do they think they know who you are? (laughs) If they knew I wouldn't be here.
(narrator) Despite the danger IRS agents Wilson and Malone refuse to give up.
Malone, I mean, this was the most ballsy guy of all the law enforcement guys.
He was able to get inside, get information, and do these amazing things.
But it, I mean, God had he been discovered there would have been body parts in all 50 states.
So do you have anything for me? Anything? I don't know if this helps, but I overheard some talk of them losing something in a raid.
I'm not sure what it is, but I just thought I should mention it.
(clock ticking) Thank you.
(narrator) Wilson learns that the evidence he needs to take down the mob boss could all ready be in his possession.
So, he begins combing through thousands of boxes collected over the four year investigation.
When you're dealin' with organized crime, you might work 24, 48 straight hours because you find the importance of what you're doing so monumental that you're not even gonna take the time to visit your family or go to sleep.
(narrator) Soon, Wilson gets the break he's been looking for.
There was an ah-ha moment for Frank Wilson.
Um, it turns out that one of Capone's casinos was raided a few years earlier.
And they had seized a ledger.
Frank Wilson finds this ledger and goes through it and flips and sees a page that actually has Al's name on it.
(narrator) With Capone's name on the ledger Wilson can at last connect the mob boss to his illegal operations.
It's not long before Al Capone is finally indicted for tax evasion.
But he's not going down easy.
(narrator) On June 5th 1931 Al Capone is indicted for tax evasion.
I'm here to turn myself in.
What's in the case? (latches flip) ("Al") My bail.
Now who do I need to give this to so I can get the hell out of here? (narrator) After paying the modern day equivalent of a quarter million dollars for bail Al Capone walks free.
(John Binder) Once Capone is indicted for income tax evasion, it's not clear that he's immediately especially worried 'cause it's a chess game.
There's a public game being played on a chess board by the IRS.
And then there's Al Capone behind the scenes influencing chess pieces and move them around.
(narrator) And only a week later Eliot Ness, determined to not let the IRS steal his spotlight hits Capone again with five thousand bootlegging charges.
I don't think Capone thought he was going to go down.
I think he underestimated what they could do about it.
They wanted Al gone.
(narrator) As news of the charges begin to make headlines Capone's public image is faltering.
But the mob boss remains unphased (door opening) causing concern within his organization.
Headlines are going nuts.
Look at that.
I'm not worried about it.
Al, you should be worried.
Let 'em say what they want.
If this jury reads about this No jury is gonna convict me.
Oh, you think so? The people love me.
No.
They don't love you, Al.
So, we'll have to buy 'em.
May I help you? We'd like to talk to you about performing your civic duty.
Mind if we come in? (narrator) Using their connections at city hall Capone's gang acquires the names and addresses of every member of Capone's jury for the upcoming tax evasion trial and the outfit begins a campaign of bribery and intimidation.
Average citizens were susceptible to all kinds of bribery.
At the end of the day almost everyone does what's best for them and their family.
(chatter) Come on, would you stop it already? We'll be in and out of here before you know it.
(man) That's right.
(narrator) On the morning of the trial Capone is confident he has all the jurors on his side.
And with his empire on the line he can't afford to be wrong.
(bailiff) All rise.
Please be seated.
Bailiff, Judge Edwards has a trial commencing today.
Take my jurors to his courtroom, and bring me his.
(courtroom gasping, chattering) (narrator) After a jury switch at the last minute by Judge James Wilkerson Al Capone's trial for tax evasion begins.
He bribed the entire jury.
The first jury that faced him.
But the feds were a step ahead of him.
They then brought in a different jury whom he didn't know about.
Mr.
Prosecutor? (narrator) As each witness takes the stand He bought everything a dozen at a time.
$500 suits (narrator) the prosecution's strategy becomes clear.
Mr.
Capone always took the most expensive suites for his parties.
And expensive champagne.
And he always paid in cash.
Mostly $100 bills, sometimes $500 bills.
They show that he spent a huge amount of money.
The assumption, then, was that he had a huge income.
And they figured people, just ordinary people, would resent that because they were paying their income taxes at a sacrifice and here was Capone who was obviously so wealthy and he wasn't paying anything.
(narrator) As the trial unfolds each new revelation about Capone's decadent lifestyle attracts national headlines.
It's on the front page of all the papers.
The gangster had risen to a level of celebrity that was as big as any movie star or sports figure.
Uh, there's really never been anything like it since.
(narrator) The prosecution finally reveals its key piece of evidence tying Capone directly to thousands of dollars in hidden income.
The ledger discovered by Frank Wilson.
Can you tell me who received those profits? (man) All the funds in this ledger were dispersed to Mr.
Al Capone.
(courtroom gasping) The key is that Frank Wilson is able to track down the bookkeeper who filled out that ledger and to lean on that bookkeeper to make him talk and to get him to agree to testify against Al Capone, which was not something people really wanted to do back then.
(narrator) After only 17 days of testimony the prosecution rests their case.
Has the jury come to a decision? Yes, Your Honor.
On counts 1, 5, 9, 13, and 19 of the second indictment the Court finds the defendant guilty.
(courtroom murmuring) Sentencing will take place (narrator) The man who got his start as a meticulous bookkeeper is now headed to jail.
(birds chirping) It's ridiculous.
What do you want to do tomorrow? What do you mean what do I want to do tomorrow? Come on.
Hey.
- Sure.
Lighten up, huh? - Okay.
He's not too worried.
First of all, it's only income tax evasion what's he gonna get a year or two? Come on.
(laughs) His brother had been indicted on income tax evasion and had gotten a sentence of less than two years.
So, worst case scenario, he has to pay back some taxes and he does a year or two in jail, right? - Lighten up.
- Ah, it's all right.
- Come on.
- I'm okay.
(silverware clanking) Will the defendant please rise? It is the judgment of this court that on the first felony indictment, the defendant is sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On the second felony count, the defendant is sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On the first misdemeanor count, the defendant is sentenced to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The result, is that the aggregate sentence of the defendant is 11 years in prison and fines aggregating $50,000.
(gavel bangs) (courtroom murmuring) (narrator) Capone is given the maximum time on all charges, the harshest tax evasion sentence in American history.
(mutters) Don't touch me.
Don't worry.
Don't worry.
(courtroom murmuring) (narrator) After years of tireless work IRS agents Frank Wilson and Mike Malone have finally taken down America's most notorious gangster.
(Laurence) The 11-year sentence that Al Capone received was a lot for income tax evasion.
But it played as a proxy for all the other crimes that he had been involved with.
All the murders, uh, bootlegging, prostitution and everything else.
It was basically a way of putting him away for good.
(liquor sloshing) (narrator) The case against Capone for prohibition violations, considered much weaker, is never pursued and Eliot Ness realizes that he won't be the one to take down the Chicago mob boss.
(Laurence) Eliot Ness was as much a victim of the Prohibition era as Capone was.
He was a hapless alcoholic.
He drank himself to an early grave after running unsuccessfully for the mayor of Cleveland.
(papers rattling) (narrator) But despite his flaws Ness remains a legend to this day for his fearless determination to catch Capone.
Know that I'll be near there Snowy white (narrator) While Capone's lawyers work on his appeal the kingpin continues running his empire from the inside, even paying off the prison warden so he can enjoy the comforts of home.
Salute.
(narrator) But all of that is about to change.
When Judge Wilkerson gets word that Capone is receiving preferential treatment he not only plans on striping Capone of all his comforts in jail, he's also going to cut him off from his empire entirely.
After Al Capone gets caught bribing the prison warden and his final appeal is rejected the government orders the Chicago kingpin to be transferred to a federal prison in Atlanta.
I think Capone definitely thought that he'd be sentenced to prison somewhere near home so he would have access to his family.
But I don't think he realized just how badly the government wanted to hurt him.
(inmates chattering) (narrator) After years of justifying his criminal ways as a means to provide for his family Capone is faced with the harsh reality of 11 years of hard time.
I'm gonna need you to be strong all right? I'm putting you in charge of looking after your mother.
I'll be home soon.
Take care of yourself.
He came from Brooklyn and he worked his way up in Chicago.
He came up from the bottom.
He worked and fought and murdered to get to the position that he finally acquired.
Now he's going to pay for that.
(narrator) As he awaits his transfer Capone is visited by his top lieutenants Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo.
Hey.
("Al") Hey.
(cell door closing) (keys rattle) How are things going? They're going okay.
I don't know what's going on.
These lawyers are screwing me over.
I could be spending a long time in here.
Al, we'll figure it out.
It's just a minor setback.
Minor setback? Minor setback? Can't you see where I am?! They got me locked up like a caged animal in here.
I'm Al Capone.
I run this city.
Frank's getting out soon.
I need the three of you to step up and run things till get out.
Do you understand? Of course.
I've worked too damn hard to let things fall apart.
(keys rattling, lock turning) (cell door shuts) (keys rattle) (narrator) With all his power stripped away Capone looks to his top lieutenants to take the reins of the criminal empire he built.
And if his men can't handle the job Al Capone could lose everything.
(screaming)
(baseball bat thuds) So, when his Irish rivals try to take down his top hitman (gunfire, glass shattering) This is the last time anyone tries to go up against us.
(narrator) Capone orders the biggest gangland hit in American history.
(shells clanking on ground) But the massacre triggers a government crackdown on the mob boss and a new threat arises when a young prohibition agent named Eliot Ness takes aim at Capone.
("Eliot") Prohibition Bureau! (narrator) As the pressure increases Ness raided another one of our breweries (narrator) the ruthless mobster decides to do the unthinkable.
We'll just have to kill him.
(crashing) (engine sputtering, birds chirping) Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness narrowly escapes a hit ordered by Al Capone.
For Ness, the fight has now become personal and he decides to show Capone that not only is he alive but he's going to do everything he can to bring down the kingpin's empire.
Over the years, I've seen some cat-and-mouse games between law enforcement and organized crime.
Sometimes it becomes personal.
They're going to think all day and night about how to get you.
("Eliot") Is this his biggest brewery? - (agent) Yeah.
- This could be our big day.
Good work.
Let's hit him hard and I want to get a man from the press.
We need to tell this story to the people of Chicago.
(phone ringing) Yeah.
(narrator) Determined to prove to Capone that he's not intimidated, Eliot Ness and his team of untouchables execute a series of high profile raids.
("Eliot") Prohibition Bureau! (handcuffs click) (narrator) Over the course of months they destroy more than 200 thousand gallons of beer worth the modern day equivalent of 134 million dollars and the newspapers cover it all.
(David) Who is Eliot Ness? Is he an idealist? Press hound? Is he a guy who's just out to fight the good fight? The answer is he's a combination of all these things.
He does want to make a name for himself.
And he does want to crack down on what he thinks is an incredible problem in Chicago.
(narrator) To culminate his crusade Ness has one more move.
(phone ringing) Yeah? I think you should take this.
("Eliot") Take a look out your window.
I think you'll like the view.
(phone clicks) (phone clicks) That son of a bitch.
(mutters) Son of a bitch.
(narrator) In a brazen display of defiance against Chicago's notorious gangster Ness gathers the bootlegging trucks he's seized from Capone and parks them right outside the Lexington Hotel.
Al thought there's no way in the world that Eliot Ness was gonna put Al Capone behind bars, but Ness came in and he started to defy the system and I think Al gets nervous.
They call Al Capone a bootlegger, huh? Yeah, it's bootlegging on the back of the trucks but when a host at the back of the club hands it to you on a silver platter it's hospitality.
(flash bulbs clicking) All I've ever done was supply a public demand.
They say I violate the Prohibition Law who doesn't, huh? Tell me that much.
(reporter) Is it true Eliot Ness has you on the run? Eliot Ness has me on the run? That's ridiculous.
(reporter 2) How does your wife feel about you right now? My wife is feeling fine, but I'm sick and tired of the lies and the attacks on my family.
(reporter 3) If these are all lies why is Uncle Sam after you? Who's saying that? Who's saying that? You tell me who's saying that and I'll fix them, huh? (reporter 4) Are you sure you're Ok guys, we're done here.
We're done.
It's over.
Get out of the way.
- ("Al") Sons of bitches.
- Come on.
Yeah, get a picture of that.
- We're through.
That's enough, get out of here.
Get a picture of that.
Get out of here.
(Jonathon) I think Al Capone's biggest mistake was arrogance.
He wanted to give interviews to reporters.
He really wanted to be seen as a star.
He loved the attention.
So the ego got him.
And that just put a target on his back.
(narrator) But what Capone doesn't realize is that Eliot Ness and the Prohibition Bureau aren't the only ones trying to take him down.
For the past four years another government agency with more manpower and resources than Ness.
Has been going after the infamous kingpin the Internal Revenue Service.
The Federal Government's attack on Al Capone is two pronged.
On the one hand there's a special squad of prohibition agents led by Eliot Ness.
Their task is to attack the Capone gang's source of income from bootlegging.
Secondly, there's an IRS investigation into him for income tax evasion.
He never filed a tax return much less paid taxes.
(phone ringing) Leading the IRS investigation is an accountant known for his meticulous attention to detail.
His name is Frank Wilson.
Wilson was relentless, he didn't mind spending endless hours just looking through papers, tryin' to build a financial case.
Not sexy.
But it was very effective in putting people away.
(narrator) Despite his efforts Wilson has been unable to find concrete evidence of Capone's income.
The effort to get Capone was riddled with all sorts of quirks.
Because of course everything was off the books in the Prohibition era.
(narrator) But Wilson has a secret weapon (roulette ball spinning) an undercover agent working within Capone's organization.
Blackjack, right there.
(narrator) By 1931 Al Capone rules over a massive illegal empire and is estimated to be worth the modern day equivalent of nearly 300 million dollars.
But what he doesn't realize is that one of the men working under him is actually an undercover IRS agent.
(coin rattles) For the past two years Mike Malone has worked to gain the trust of Capone's gang learning how the organization works from the inside.
Joe, make sure to work closely with Ricca on that.
Ok, Al.
We'll step up security ("Al") Good.
I overheard some talk of them losing some (Robert) Intelligence gathering is the stock and trade of a FBI agent, developing relationships with people and getting information to paint the picture and then figure out the mousetrap you have to set in place to hold it accountable.
(chatter) ("Mike") Things are going pretty well tonight.
Poker's up.
There's more money flowing here than I've ever seen before.
That's what I like to hear.
- I told you - What was that? You ever have any more problems with those Irish guys you - How you doin'? - Hey.
How's it going? - Good.
Hey, Paulie.
- Yeah.
("Paul") Look at this guy.
Doing good? (laughs) Yeah.
Good to see you.
You guys have a good day, huh? Thank you so much.
See you, boss.
(narrator) With his every move being tracked without his knowledge Capone remains focused on the one problem he knows he needs to solve stopping Eliot Ness' raids.
And he thinks he finally has a way to do it.
We're moving in on another brewery tomorrow morning.
Let's get a member of the press along too.
Eliot Ness would famously summon newspaper photographers and reporters to be there when he crashed through the doors of these places.
He liked the attention, he liked the drama.
We want to send a message.
Think they'll be interested in what they see behind those doors.
("Eliot") The address is 3901.
We move fast on this one.
(narrator) But this time, Capone has a plan to deal with him by paying off the local telephone companies in exchange for wiretaps on the phone lines of Ness and his agents.
This is great.
("Eliot") We need to send a message.
I don't care what it takes.
(flash bulbs clicking) Here we go.
(flash bulb clicking) (narrator) After his brewery raid is a bust Eliot Ness is left humiliated.
(glasses clink) You did good.
Good job, Nitti.
(narrator) And once again Al Capone has evaded the law.
But while he neutralizes one threat the mobster is unaware that another is closing in.
(phone ringing) (narrator) IRS Special Agent Frank Wilson has been conducting his own investigation into Capone's finances.
But despite months of analyzing evidence Wilson hasn't found anything that directly links Capone to his illegal rackets so he targets the gangster's inner circle and finds a personal bank account owned by Capone's head of finances, Frank Nitti showing hundreds of thousands of dollars in untaxed income.
Frank Nitti was essentially, uh, the manager that worked under Al Capone.
He was the bookkeeper, so to speak.
If you're gonna supply booze to the whole city of Chicago, obviously you need a front office to run that.
(agent) Frank Nitti, you're under arrest.
For what? Get up.
Is this really necessary? (handcuffs clicking) (narrator) After a short trial, Nitti is sent to jail.
Frank Nitti was one of the smarter guys in the operation.
Also, somebody Capone could really count on.
When he went to prison, it really hurt his organization.
(snorting) ("Al") So who is this guy? ("Paul") Frank Wilson.
Good.
Now get rid of him.
Al, listen, this guy is with the IRS.
This isn't somebody you can take out like that.
He's a problem.
Take him out.
That's it.
You're going to regret this mark my words.
(narrator) Capone's men begin to come up with a plan to take out Wilson but what they don't realize is that Mike Malone has heard everything.
(narrator) After finding out the name of the IRS agent targeting him Al Capone orders a hit on Frank Wilson.
(gun clicking) (thundering) (coin rattling) (phone dial clicking) (phone ringing) (ringing continues) (sighing) Hello? ("Mike") Frank, listen to me very carefully.
Mike? Get out of bed and meet me at the place around the corner in 20.
I'll explain everything when you get there.
Can't this wait till the morning? They're coming for you, Frank.
Get the hell out of there.
Right now.
(door smashes open) (guns cocking) Thank you.
(dishes clank) If you want to back off I get it.
I want to nail this son of a bitch.
I agree.
I'm working on it.
Do they think they know who you are? (laughs) If they knew I wouldn't be here.
(narrator) Despite the danger IRS agents Wilson and Malone refuse to give up.
Malone, I mean, this was the most ballsy guy of all the law enforcement guys.
He was able to get inside, get information, and do these amazing things.
But it, I mean, God had he been discovered there would have been body parts in all 50 states.
So do you have anything for me? Anything? I don't know if this helps, but I overheard some talk of them losing something in a raid.
I'm not sure what it is, but I just thought I should mention it.
(clock ticking) Thank you.
(narrator) Wilson learns that the evidence he needs to take down the mob boss could all ready be in his possession.
So, he begins combing through thousands of boxes collected over the four year investigation.
When you're dealin' with organized crime, you might work 24, 48 straight hours because you find the importance of what you're doing so monumental that you're not even gonna take the time to visit your family or go to sleep.
(narrator) Soon, Wilson gets the break he's been looking for.
There was an ah-ha moment for Frank Wilson.
Um, it turns out that one of Capone's casinos was raided a few years earlier.
And they had seized a ledger.
Frank Wilson finds this ledger and goes through it and flips and sees a page that actually has Al's name on it.
(narrator) With Capone's name on the ledger Wilson can at last connect the mob boss to his illegal operations.
It's not long before Al Capone is finally indicted for tax evasion.
But he's not going down easy.
(narrator) On June 5th 1931 Al Capone is indicted for tax evasion.
I'm here to turn myself in.
What's in the case? (latches flip) ("Al") My bail.
Now who do I need to give this to so I can get the hell out of here? (narrator) After paying the modern day equivalent of a quarter million dollars for bail Al Capone walks free.
(John Binder) Once Capone is indicted for income tax evasion, it's not clear that he's immediately especially worried 'cause it's a chess game.
There's a public game being played on a chess board by the IRS.
And then there's Al Capone behind the scenes influencing chess pieces and move them around.
(narrator) And only a week later Eliot Ness, determined to not let the IRS steal his spotlight hits Capone again with five thousand bootlegging charges.
I don't think Capone thought he was going to go down.
I think he underestimated what they could do about it.
They wanted Al gone.
(narrator) As news of the charges begin to make headlines Capone's public image is faltering.
But the mob boss remains unphased (door opening) causing concern within his organization.
Headlines are going nuts.
Look at that.
I'm not worried about it.
Al, you should be worried.
Let 'em say what they want.
If this jury reads about this No jury is gonna convict me.
Oh, you think so? The people love me.
No.
They don't love you, Al.
So, we'll have to buy 'em.
May I help you? We'd like to talk to you about performing your civic duty.
Mind if we come in? (narrator) Using their connections at city hall Capone's gang acquires the names and addresses of every member of Capone's jury for the upcoming tax evasion trial and the outfit begins a campaign of bribery and intimidation.
Average citizens were susceptible to all kinds of bribery.
At the end of the day almost everyone does what's best for them and their family.
(chatter) Come on, would you stop it already? We'll be in and out of here before you know it.
(man) That's right.
(narrator) On the morning of the trial Capone is confident he has all the jurors on his side.
And with his empire on the line he can't afford to be wrong.
(bailiff) All rise.
Please be seated.
Bailiff, Judge Edwards has a trial commencing today.
Take my jurors to his courtroom, and bring me his.
(courtroom gasping, chattering) (narrator) After a jury switch at the last minute by Judge James Wilkerson Al Capone's trial for tax evasion begins.
He bribed the entire jury.
The first jury that faced him.
But the feds were a step ahead of him.
They then brought in a different jury whom he didn't know about.
Mr.
Prosecutor? (narrator) As each witness takes the stand He bought everything a dozen at a time.
$500 suits (narrator) the prosecution's strategy becomes clear.
Mr.
Capone always took the most expensive suites for his parties.
And expensive champagne.
And he always paid in cash.
Mostly $100 bills, sometimes $500 bills.
They show that he spent a huge amount of money.
The assumption, then, was that he had a huge income.
And they figured people, just ordinary people, would resent that because they were paying their income taxes at a sacrifice and here was Capone who was obviously so wealthy and he wasn't paying anything.
(narrator) As the trial unfolds each new revelation about Capone's decadent lifestyle attracts national headlines.
It's on the front page of all the papers.
The gangster had risen to a level of celebrity that was as big as any movie star or sports figure.
Uh, there's really never been anything like it since.
(narrator) The prosecution finally reveals its key piece of evidence tying Capone directly to thousands of dollars in hidden income.
The ledger discovered by Frank Wilson.
Can you tell me who received those profits? (man) All the funds in this ledger were dispersed to Mr.
Al Capone.
(courtroom gasping) The key is that Frank Wilson is able to track down the bookkeeper who filled out that ledger and to lean on that bookkeeper to make him talk and to get him to agree to testify against Al Capone, which was not something people really wanted to do back then.
(narrator) After only 17 days of testimony the prosecution rests their case.
Has the jury come to a decision? Yes, Your Honor.
On counts 1, 5, 9, 13, and 19 of the second indictment the Court finds the defendant guilty.
(courtroom murmuring) Sentencing will take place (narrator) The man who got his start as a meticulous bookkeeper is now headed to jail.
(birds chirping) It's ridiculous.
What do you want to do tomorrow? What do you mean what do I want to do tomorrow? Come on.
Hey.
- Sure.
Lighten up, huh? - Okay.
He's not too worried.
First of all, it's only income tax evasion what's he gonna get a year or two? Come on.
(laughs) His brother had been indicted on income tax evasion and had gotten a sentence of less than two years.
So, worst case scenario, he has to pay back some taxes and he does a year or two in jail, right? - Lighten up.
- Ah, it's all right.
- Come on.
- I'm okay.
(silverware clanking) Will the defendant please rise? It is the judgment of this court that on the first felony indictment, the defendant is sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On the second felony count, the defendant is sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On the first misdemeanor count, the defendant is sentenced to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The result, is that the aggregate sentence of the defendant is 11 years in prison and fines aggregating $50,000.
(gavel bangs) (courtroom murmuring) (narrator) Capone is given the maximum time on all charges, the harshest tax evasion sentence in American history.
(mutters) Don't touch me.
Don't worry.
Don't worry.
(courtroom murmuring) (narrator) After years of tireless work IRS agents Frank Wilson and Mike Malone have finally taken down America's most notorious gangster.
(Laurence) The 11-year sentence that Al Capone received was a lot for income tax evasion.
But it played as a proxy for all the other crimes that he had been involved with.
All the murders, uh, bootlegging, prostitution and everything else.
It was basically a way of putting him away for good.
(liquor sloshing) (narrator) The case against Capone for prohibition violations, considered much weaker, is never pursued and Eliot Ness realizes that he won't be the one to take down the Chicago mob boss.
(Laurence) Eliot Ness was as much a victim of the Prohibition era as Capone was.
He was a hapless alcoholic.
He drank himself to an early grave after running unsuccessfully for the mayor of Cleveland.
(papers rattling) (narrator) But despite his flaws Ness remains a legend to this day for his fearless determination to catch Capone.
Know that I'll be near there Snowy white (narrator) While Capone's lawyers work on his appeal the kingpin continues running his empire from the inside, even paying off the prison warden so he can enjoy the comforts of home.
Salute.
(narrator) But all of that is about to change.
When Judge Wilkerson gets word that Capone is receiving preferential treatment he not only plans on striping Capone of all his comforts in jail, he's also going to cut him off from his empire entirely.
After Al Capone gets caught bribing the prison warden and his final appeal is rejected the government orders the Chicago kingpin to be transferred to a federal prison in Atlanta.
I think Capone definitely thought that he'd be sentenced to prison somewhere near home so he would have access to his family.
But I don't think he realized just how badly the government wanted to hurt him.
(inmates chattering) (narrator) After years of justifying his criminal ways as a means to provide for his family Capone is faced with the harsh reality of 11 years of hard time.
I'm gonna need you to be strong all right? I'm putting you in charge of looking after your mother.
I'll be home soon.
Take care of yourself.
He came from Brooklyn and he worked his way up in Chicago.
He came up from the bottom.
He worked and fought and murdered to get to the position that he finally acquired.
Now he's going to pay for that.
(narrator) As he awaits his transfer Capone is visited by his top lieutenants Paul Ricca and Tony Accardo.
Hey.
("Al") Hey.
(cell door closing) (keys rattle) How are things going? They're going okay.
I don't know what's going on.
These lawyers are screwing me over.
I could be spending a long time in here.
Al, we'll figure it out.
It's just a minor setback.
Minor setback? Minor setback? Can't you see where I am?! They got me locked up like a caged animal in here.
I'm Al Capone.
I run this city.
Frank's getting out soon.
I need the three of you to step up and run things till get out.
Do you understand? Of course.
I've worked too damn hard to let things fall apart.
(keys rattling, lock turning) (cell door shuts) (keys rattle) (narrator) With all his power stripped away Capone looks to his top lieutenants to take the reins of the criminal empire he built.
And if his men can't handle the job Al Capone could lose everything.
(screaming)