Al Capone and Prohibition

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On January 16, 1920, the 18th amendment to the United States Constitution comes into force, one year after its ratification. All sale, production, and transport of alcohol are henceforward forbidden in the entire territory of America. It’s the start of Prohibition. Several criminals grab the opportunity to create veritable empires by means of contraband liquor. Al Capone is certainly the most infamous among them. The United States Treasury gives the no-less-famous Eliot Ness the mission of bringing down Al Capone. Despite the many, and fruitful, operations carried out against his clandestine distilleries, the boss of the Chicago underworld holds out—until another solution is considered: charge Capone with tax evasion. In 1931, Al Capone is found guilty of tax evasion and sentenced to 17 years in jail. His empire collapses with him. During his reign, Al Capone unified the various Italian underworld gangs and created the idea of an organized Mafia such as we know today.