8/23/1934 - CALIF NEWSPAPER - MOB BOSS AL CAPONE TRANSFERED TO ALCATRAZ PRISON

Description

Item up for sale is original and complete (12 page) August 23rd, 1934, edition of the Santa Rosa, California, "The Independent," newspaper; this newspaper issued during the depression era was distributed without charge; it apparently was a startup newspaper. Among the lead stories was of the day was of the transfer of the notorious mobster, Alphonse (Al) Capone, head of the Outfit, in Chicago. The Brooklyn born gangster would relocate to Chicago where he would team up with fellow New Yorker, Johnny Torrio, and work in the brothel business. Between Prohibition and his penchant for advancement he would skyrocket to the heights of the Chicago underworld. He would become as famous as Babe Ruth. In 1929 he would earn over 100 million dollars, through his illegal enterprises, a staggering sum in those days, equivalent to over a billion dollars in today's money. In 1931 he would be convicted by the IRS and the Treasury Department of tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years in jail. He would be imprisoned in the federal lockup at Atlanta. This newspaper tells of his 1934 transfer to the infamous "Rock," Alcatraz Prison, a former military lockup converted to a Federal penitentiary. This is a great collectors item for fans of organized crime.