Today is Saturday, October 17, 2020. On this day in 1931, 32-year-old gangster Al Capone

was convicted of income tax evasion, finally ending his violent reign as public enemy number

1. Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from

podcast. Today we're covering the conviction of America's most notorious gangster, Al Capone.

Unable to secure convictions for his more violent crimes, the government settled for

nailing him for tax evasion. Now let's go back to a Cook County courthouse on the afternoon

of October 17, 1931. It was just before 3pm when the jury filed out of the courtroom

to begin deliberations. All eyes were on the 32-year-old defendant, Al Capone, who faced

several charges of tax evasion and conspiracy to violate the Prohibition Act. But the mobster

gave little away as the 12-man jury exited. Far from worried, Capone seemed confident he'd

escape punishment, just like he always did. Earlier, he boasted, the government can't collect

legal taxes from illegal money. And it was illegal money. He and his lawyers seemed to

have no problem admitting that, but how he acquired his wealth wasn't the focus of the

11-day trial. In their defense, Capone's lawyers argued that their client was a gambling

addict, who had lost some $300,000 over a number of years. It was an odd defense to put

up, but might have been their only option, because Al Capone was guilty of the charges

against him. He'd never filed a single-income tax return, but was worth tens of millions.

To face with those facts, his lawyers sought to mislead the jury, imploring them to pity

a hopeless gambling addict. It didn't seem to fool anyone. Still, the jury deliberated

for about eight hours, and returned to the courtroom later that same evening.

Silence fell over the courtroom as Judge James H. Wilkerson directed the clerk to read

the verdict. As soon as the first guilty was announced, reporters raced from the room,

...