The Downfall Of America's Most Notorious Mobsters | Our History

Chicago had Capone New York had lucky luchano but in the mid-50s Florida the international gateway to the Caribbean is ruled by Santo trafficante a mob boss turning neighboring Cuba into a gambling Paradise he was very powerful he was the go-to guy when it came to Cuba he was a Mafia Don who was smart enough to avoid the Limelight on the verge of becoming the wealthiest mob boss of them all he is betrayed by one head of state then another hellbent on Revenge we know he tried to kill one but did he succeed in killing the second was Santo traficante behind the terrible assassination that shocked the United States nothing's more Sensational than assassination to prison this is the story of Florida's top Dawn Santo trafficante November the 22nd 1963 Dallas Texas President Kennedy and his wife are heading for a lunch with Civic leaders the motorcade Begins the 11m ride to the Dallas trademark where the president is to deliver a major address president's car is now turning on to Elm Street and it will be only a matter of minutes before he arrives at the trademark the president is hit by three bullets in quick succession it appears as though something has happened in the motorcade route several police officers are rushing up the hill at this time the down police almost immediately identified Le Harvey Oswell they quickly put together a description of Lee Harvey Oswald as a lone nut who may have had communist sympathies and was involved in proastro Cuban operations within 2 hours the pro Cuban revolutionary is arrested case seemingly closed two Days Later Oswald is being transferred to the county jail I didn't shoot anybody a man steps out of the crowd the gunman is another man with strong links to Cuba Jack Ruby one year later the Warren report concludes that Oswald acted alone and his motives were political Oswald's killer Jack Ruby also acted alone just a disgruntled American saddened by Kennedy's death who wanted to take revenge against the accused shooter but from the moment it is published the rushed report comes under intense criticism the report was built around the evidence most favorable to that conclusion Kennedy essor the new President Johnson does not want the investigation to drag on it was coming up on the reelection and President Johnson simply did not want the question of what happened to President Kennedy as an issue was obvious to many people it had been done very flimsily it wasn't a really solid report there are many questions for over a decade the idea that Oswald was acting alone just didn't sit well the press report on rumors that Oswald was working for the CIA that he was working for the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro or even the MOB 12 years after the Warren report a house select committee is formed in another attempt to get to the [Music] truth in September 1978 the committee call a powerful and ruthless mafioso he was the head of the Florida mafia and one time king of Cuba's casinos for the record will the witness please State his full name Santo trafficante Mr trafficante I want to ask you a question that is very important to this committee and that is did you have any forn knowledge of the assassination ofid President Kennedy someone believes that Santo traficante knows more about the death of John F Kennedy than he should that man is Chief counsel to the house select committee Robert [Music] Blakey at the very moment the news of the assassination breaks Blakey is working as a prosecutor in the state department I myself was in the office with Robert Kennedy theid president's brother all of a sudden uh the news of the assassination came out that somebody would shoot at an American president is unbelievable when attorney Blakey first hears the rumors of mob involvement he doesn't think there is anything in them I thought they didn't do it the killing of Kennedy was not with a machine gun and guys isn't dressed in black but when Blakey drafts the famous Rico laws that will eventually put the heads of five major crime families Behind Bars he goes on a steep learning curve and discovers that the mafia are now a much more sophisticated outfit until the RICO law was passed M bosses were virtually immune from prosecution they never pulled the trigger they never beat anybody up the recall lore was able to get them because they were now part of an Enterprise now Blakey sets his sights on trafficante the onetime Cuban Casino King the first alarm Bell is triggered by the death of oswal the killing of oswal on the way to the jail has all the earmarks of of a an assassination of the Assassin not only is Oswald's murder typical of a mob hit the man who killed Oswald Jack Ruby runs nightclub used by gangsters linked to a New Orleans mob boss Carlos marello and marello is traffic's closest mob Ally while he's not a member of the mafia there are connections for organized crime and to the mafia in particular and there are other threads in the report that Blakey Fields need pulling it turned out that it was not as hard clad as it might be in a conclusion the original Warren report glossed over other connections between Oswald and the same Carlos marello Lee Harvey Oswald's uncle and surrogate father is none other than Carlos marchello's bookmaker and both Oswald and Ruby have direct connections to Cuba and somewhere in the middle of this web of intrigue sits the onetime Cuban racketeer Santo trafficante if you take his connections and Trace them out like a concentric Circle it looks like organized crime in some sense we responsible so who is this elusive Santo trafficante what is your current occupation I'm retired this is far from the truth by the late 1970s traffic was still considered the boss of the Tampa Mafi and still an influential figure not only in the mob scene in Florida but nationally he had these piercing eyes that could look right through your soul he could be a ruthless killer he could turn on you instantly and whack someone and no problem at all in 1954 Santo trafficante inherits the Florida mob from his father it's pretty unusual for Mafia bosses to hand control over to the sons trafficante CIA is notorious for eliminating enemies regardless of profile or reputation a few years earlier he was being challenged for Supremacy by a gangster called Jimmy Lumia trafficante Senor taught his son what a trafficante does with those who show no [Music] [Music] respect Lumia was a well-known figure in Florida a close friend of the mayor nonetheless trafficante senior sanctioned the hit it's a valuable lesson to trafficante Junior no matter how high a profile if someone crosses you you HIIT them though ruthless the group trafficante inherits is little more than a a small time gambling outfit in tamper but the young mobster sees an opportunity to expand his operation a potential gold mine sitting just 90 Mi off the coast of Florida in the early 50s the Caribbean island of Cuba is run by a brutal and corrupt exgen called fulgencio Batista and Batista rows the doors open to the mafia operating completely free of American regulations Mobsters invest heavily in casinos and hotels where they have no trouble with the authorities the appeal of Cuba was at a a very corruptible government at that time it was a deal with the dictator they kick back every night 10% of the earnings from these casinos it was a Tropical Paradise could you tell us when you moved to Cuba around 1953 or 1954 I was in the gambling business and the nightclub casino business which were legal at that time in Cuba trafficante becomes the facilitator for other crime families to move in Tampa has strong Community ties with Cuba and he is one of the only Mobsters to speak the same language trafficante and the Tampa guys they spoke Spanish which a lot of the New York Mobsters who were operating in Cuba didn't trafficante had the establishment the connections he do the people he was all set there would you say that collectively your investment could have been over a million No in fact trafficante earns a fortune from his multiple casinos and nightclubs he had interest in five casinos he raked in millions all the time and it was a booming place for the mafia as profitable as the casinos are they are nothing compared to a new and lucrative Market drugs back in the days of prohibition most liquor found its way into the United States through Canada it made the mobs of New York and Chicago very wealthy now drugs are the new commodity and Cuba the major Gateway right in traffic's backyard illegal drugs are set to make trafficante one of the wealthiest Dawns in the US even if you got the northern Mobsters coming down they were second bananas to the trafficante family in Cuba within just a few years the fortune from drugs and gambling ensures the ambitious and cunning Santo trafficante Junior has a seat at the mob's top [Music] table November 14th 1957 a summit is called in aalin New York the top crime bosses from around the United States are invited and Santo trafficante Jr is now on the list trafficante still wasn't fully on the radar as a big shot but things were happening that we're going to make him an important [Music] figure also present is samjan Carana boss of the Chicago outfit the top mob bosses are Keen to hear about the leader of the Cuban Frontier but expensive cars with light license plates from around the country aroused the Curiosity of the local and state law enforcement this is the police you are surrounded throw down your weapons and put your hands in the air trafficante escapes jail but the publicity of the raid shines unprecedented light on the mafia it confirms the existence of a national crime syndicate which some had long refused to acknowledge everybody including FBI director Jed gber said there is no such thing as a national crime syndicate all of a sudden all these guys got arrested there by the state police it was a great shocker and showed the mafia is real top mobster names are spaed across National newspapers and the stranger on the verge of mob success is thrown into the Limelight suddenly here was this unknown character in the midst of all the dozens of major mob bosses so it showed you his rank his stature and his importance trafficante flees from the attention of law enforcement and the glare of publicity from news reports it's the last thing he wants and so he disappears back to [Music] Cuba within just a few years trafficante is making millions importing drugs through Cuba and cleaning the profits through a chain of casinos Santo trante was really the major Domo and the major figure in gambling in Havana but when a young Revolution Ary communist called Fidel Castro threatens to overthrow General Batista it puts traffic's expanding Empire in Jeopardy can you tell us in late 1958 what was the result of the activities of Castro wasn't too good every other day they had bombs and stuff like that trafficante cares little for politics but a lot about profits so the mob boss moves fast and like any smart Gambler he covers all the angles in the years before the Revolution castra had come to Tampa ebore City a number of times to do fundraising and speaking events and he came to town he would meet with the traffic anes as well in exchange for money trafficante secures a deal with the rebel even if Castro's Revolution succeeds he has guarantees that it will be business as usual for the mob in Cuba traic count definitely was hedging his bet he was paying off the Batista officials and the government but at the same time he was giving money to the gorillas and to Castro but by 1958 as the violence escalates Castro's gorillas hit profits gamblers start deserting the casinos other bosses fold and quit Cuba but trafficante holds his nerve while every other mob figure bolted back to the US he stayed put he felt secure all his buddies everyone was pulling out travani felt that he could smoo his way back in and keep what he had going there whoever wins Batista or Castro the Florida mob boss Santo trafficante believes his Empire is safe tra K had always thought look you just buy your way out of anything down here on January the 1st 1959 Castro finally takes control as general Batista flees Cuba it's only then that the king of Cuba's casinos discovers that he has seriously miscalculated he thought he knew the territory he was wrong Castro was a little different fellow little did he know that Fidel Castro didn't support anything that they were doing trafficante has been double crossed he waited too long to get out of Cuba I got news that the Cuban officials were looking forward to put me in jail because one of the things I was was a Batista collaborator they red my apartment department they were looking for money they tore up the furniture they had weapons I knew that sooner or later I would have to get out of there traffic soon finds it's not just his criminal Empire that's in danger his life hangs by a thread Castro actually jails trafficante in tornia detention center with men disappearing from the cells around him trafficante knows the deal you could hear the execution firing squads taking care of Castro's enemies they were going to execute him that's how close it came for him not making out of cubba trafficante has to get out and fast he reaches out to his long-term Ally New Orleans mob boss Carlos marello Mr traffic handy do you know Carlos marchello yes sir I know Carlos machello about 30 years mysteriously around the time trafficante is in jail Carlos marchello's bagman Jack Ruby makes frequent trips to Cuba we know that Jack Ruby made quick trips from Cuba to Miami in back that have no explanation if he was just a um a tourist could Ruby have been trying to get trafficante out of jail the next question gets to the heart of the conspiracy investigation Mr trafican did you ever know a Jack Ruby no sir I never remember meeting Jack Ruby never remember meeting him no it seems the trafficante understands the danger of linking himself to Jack Ruby the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald traffic Andi denied it and denied that he knew Jack Ruby but there's every reason to disbelieve traffic Handi on it the committee is desperately trying to join the dots Ruby had been connected to Carlos marello he had been running money mainly for Carlos marchello out of Cuba 2 months after his arrest by Castro in August 1959 trafficante is is unexpectedly released from jail could Ruby have been paying someone off he shouldn't have gotten out period end of story there's little doubt that he got out the very simple way he bribed his way this time trafficante doesn't gamble he leaves Cuba he's lost everything I could see that I had to leave there there was nothing there for me everybody was being arrested and nobody was safe so I made out I was coming to the states for just a visit and I never went back he was devastated I mean there's no doubt about it he had multiple Millions invested either by himself or through other members of the mob these were hard dollars multi-million he had more casinos than anybody else from his point of view the Cuban Revolution was a dis Aster the gambling Empire trafficante helped to build in Cuba now shifts West to Bugsy seagull Las Vegas even worse mob bosses across the United States who had invested in traffic's Cuban Island Haven now want their money back traffic's seat at the mafia top table has been taken from him and there is only one man to blame for his downfall Santo never forgave Castro one of his biggest AIMS in life was getting back to Cuba and getting rid of Castro he would have done anything he could possibly to do it but trafficante isn't the only one with a grudge against Castro in Key West Florida anti-communist feeling mounts Fel Castro is hanged in effigy antic Castro forces are beginning to join hands in other cities Santo trafficante cultivates ties with the anti-castro Exile movement in Florida and surrounds himself with a mob of Cuban gangsters his involvement doesn't go unnoticed trafficante soon discovers that he is aligned with some very powerful allies September 1960 trafficante is approached by a messenger sent by the boss of Chicago Sam Gian Gian wants trafficante to carry out one of the most high-profile hits in mob history to kill Castro but janana isn't authorizing the hit in fact the contract doesn't come from the mafia at all Mr trafican can you tell us who was the person who first contacted you John relli John relli is Chicago mob boss Sam Gian carner's right-hand man could you tell us the substance of the conversation you had with him well he told me that the CIA and the United States government wanted this thing done that is what he said to me in the history of organized crime the lines between the mob and law enforcement are often blurred but trafficante Revelation breaks new ground the American government were asking mob boss Sam ganana to help assassinate the revolution AR leader of Cuba the CIA were desperate to get rid of Castro he was a person nonr but the CIA is too smart to carry out the assassination itself when the US government was looking for somebody to assassinate Castro they said well who are good assassins they said the mafia it just shows you the respect that law enforcement had for the mafia they could get things done in a way that law enforcement or legitimate operations could not the real Scandal is the Assumption on the part of the CIA that the mafia was a group of hired Killers now the CIA approached janana and ask him to find a Hitman janana knows when it comes to Cuba there is only one man with the connections the king of Cuban casinos Santo trafficante that was just the kind of man the CIA was looking for a man that belonged to an organization that was skilled in murder and plots and was very unhappy had lost a lot of money and would do anything to get back there in September 1960 a meeting is arranged at the font and blur hotel Miami between the CIA Chicago mob boss samjan and his chosen Hitman Florida mob boss Santo trafficante the CIA and the mob are now at the same table with a single Sinister aim an attempt on a world Leader's life what was your reaction to killing president Castro well at the time I think it was a good thing because he had established a communistic base 90 mil from the United States and being that the United States government wanted this thing done I go along with it same as a war I figure it was like a war trafficante was helping out the CIA because anything that worked to get rid of Castro would be a benefit to him the agency first suggests a classic mobster hit in which Castro would die in a hail of bullets the government idea was you just send your assassins in and they shoot the fell down there is something funny about the CIA trying to I tell the mob how to kill someone uh jenana and trafficante propose a more subtle approach Jin kanana and traan they said you've got to do this in a clever way that's when all these poisoning plots were considered was there a discussion about poison pills there was a discussion about pills yes sir I'm telling you any kind of a way that was possible to get rid of him and trafficante knows an official who can get close to Castro trafficante could get Castro to some restaurant where they would slip poison pills into his food a plan is agreed and the CIA offices and over $150,000 in cash a line has been crossed the CIA has just paid the m to kill Castro trafficante knew it was crazy but he wasn't stupid enough to pass up $150,000 that was taxfree but the money and getting revenge on Castro is only part of the deal in exchange law enforcement agencies will turn a blind eye to Mafia operations he was told that if he did this little job for the government he was home free nobody would bother him anymore but the plot is soon forgotten as the move against Castro goes to another level behind the scenes Gian Carana has been helping a charismatic young Senator named John F Kennedy to become president of the United States old man Kennedy Joe sent Sinatra Frank Sinatra to talk to Gian Connor he said if you carry Illinois for us there'll be no bothering you the kennedies won't go after you Joe Kennedy knows that janana practically owns this swing state if anyone can rig votes in Illinois it's janana from the mob point of view it was a no lose situation and the mob holds up the first part of the deal they help get John F Kennedy elected was there my money in the election in Chicago yes period end the [Music] story now now with the president apparently on side trafficante discovers that the new Administration is making Cuba a priority the CIA are asked to ramp up their plans from an assassination to a full-scale Invasion as a man who has invested heavily in the Cuban Exile movement in Florida trafficante believes his men will at last get the support they need on April 16th 1961 Kennedy sends 1,500 mercenaries financed by the CIA to invade Cuba's Bay of [Music] Pigs among the fighters are some of traffic's very own Florida allies the Cuban Exile movement the plan is that Kennedy's planes are on standby ready to back the ground forces the assault is to be a swift surprise attack but the Invaders are outnumbered 10 to one as Castro's Forces fight back Kennedy fails to send American air support in just 3 days Castro crushes the American Invasion it is a complete f aure well the CIA plan for the invasion didn't work very well it was an amateurish campaign that 1500 or so men could overthrow all of Castro's troops Castro is now a national hero and traffic's hope to revive his Cuban Empire crumbles the men he has funded are now dead or imprison trafficante has been double crossed again first by Castro in Cuba and now by Kennedy's lack of conviction Santo traficante only had one culprit and that was President Kennedy and he blamed Kennedy more than anybody else for the failure of Bay of Pigs and things are about to get a lot worse for the mafia Jan KH had helped Kennedy to get elected but far from ignoring mob activities the new president sends his brother attorney general Bobby Kennedy to go after organized crime there are a number of different areas and where action is needed I think that in the field of organized crime I think it's a very serious situation that's facing the country at the present time Jean kind of felt more betrayed the fact that he came up with money and helped JFK win went by the board Bobby Kennedy by going after the mafia incited trafficante into more hatred after first siding with the mob the American government is now going after them twice trafficante has been betrayed by Kennedy and now seeks payback but the mob in the north is under heavy surveillance and traffic's mob Al Sam Jan is effectively under lockdown the enana was under such intense surveillance that carloads of FBI agents would follow right on his back bumper everywhere he went they went there was an allout campaign against Gian which made him very angry it is impossible for janana to have meetings and completely disrupts the Chicago outfit other mob bosses are angry and resentful there was no question about the animosity that mob Don had for John F Kennedy and for Bobby Kennedy the conversations about Kennedy were really very [Music] vicious there were numerous bugs picked up by the FBI one of them particularly was from Sam G and Connor who said we broke our balls trying to get him elected and look what he does against us that son of a but trafficante is shrewd and keeps off the phone lines he was a mafia Don who was smart enough to avoid the Limelight he was never caught on a bug or on a wire never implicated himself in any crime in Chicago jenana may be under 24-hours scrutiny but in the South trafficante and marello certainly have freedom to plan the mob's revenge on the kennedies but did [Music] they the committee had already tried to get to the bottom of mob connections to the assassination of Kennedy 15 years earlier in 1975 they called Sam janana to testify but janana never makes it to the [Music] stand the night before he is shot dead then in 1976 they called Jan's right-hand man John relli his first testimony is explosive and the committee recall him for further questioning but relli mysteriously disappears 5 days later his dismembered body is found inside an oil drum floating in dumbfounding Bay Miami the three major Mafia the players the CIA attempt to kill Castro relli Sam Jan Conor and Santo tropicante Jr and the only one who survived was Santo the way they were cut up and the way they were shot in their mouths they were killed in a way that indicated they had been Squealers trafficante is the last man standing but when Blakey looks at the evidence for his connection to Kennedy's assassination trafficante was nowhere near Dallas on that November day in 1963 he was with his lawyer in his hometown of Tampa Florida November 22nd 1963 Dallas Lee Harvey Oswald fires three bullets in quick succession Oswald is a known communist with Pro Castro connection and a grudge against Kennedy but his uncle and father figure also works for Santo traffic's closest Ally Carlos marello just two days later Oswald is also dead killed by Jack Ruby the man who ran nightclubs for traffic's friend Robert Blakey now believes that there are too many coincidences to be dismissed I believe the mob was not involved I was wrong about that they did have the Moe of opportunity and means but killing him they discussed that and somehow trafficante fits right at the center in September 1978 Blakey calls Santo traficante to the stand but will he crack Mr traffic candy I want to ask you a question that is very important to to this committee and that is did you have any forn knowledge of the assassination of President Kennedy absolutely not no way Blakey decides to go for Brooke he reminds trafficante of the explosive admission that led to Roselli's death Mr traffic handy before he died roselli hinted to Associates that he knew who had arranged President Kennedy's murder it was the same conspirators he suggested whom he had recruited earlier to kill Cuban Premier Fidel Castro Mr traffic handy do you have any knowledge of that no knowledge whatsoever the committee now discover firsthand just how shrewd a mobster trafficante can be Mr traffic County did you ever know a Jack Ruby no sir I never remember meeting Jack Ruby never remember meeting him no the house select committee keep hitting a brick wall the silent Dawn isn't giving anything away he always took the same stance he never knew anything he didn't remember anybody his answers remain consistent absolutely not no way no no knowledge [Music] whatsoever after 30 months of in instigation 12 volumes of hearings and appendices the house select committee on assassinations draws to a close the report is published in 1979 and concludes that while the mafia was not involved it did not preclude the involvement of certain individuals Carlos marello of New Orleans and Santo trafficante of Florida there was a likely conspiracy and we pointed to the most likely suspects as Carlos Marcelo and Santo traki but we said we could not indicated with confidence uh that they did it the only irrefutable conclusion is that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president and Jack Ruby killed [Music] Oswald despite blakey's best efforts tra fante walks [Music] free in the following years trafficante resumes his activities as the Florida mob boss and despite blakey's best efforts continues to evade the law even blakey's famous RICO law the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act which dismantled the five crime families of New York fails to nail trafficante there's no question about how crafty and how successful Santo traficante was he was the only major Godfather that Joe pistone the special FBI agent could not [Music] get Santo traficante was the only M Bo to escape a big Rico indictment but the FBI did not stop looking into the two main Mafia suspects linked to Kennedy's death in 1983 fellow suspected conspirator mob boss Carlos marello is in prison on racketeering and bribery [Music] charges the FBI place an informant in his cell they talk about the Kennedy assassination and marello opens up Marcelo said to the informant I killed him and that would kill him again but before the courts can question trafficante his health deteriorates and in 1987 he dies age [Music] 72 in the years after traffic's death more evidence comes to light Frank ragano long term lawyer to trafficante claims that just 4 days before he died trafficante had opened up to him trafficante refers to the dead President John F Kennedy by his mob nickname Giovani we should never have killed Giovani we should have killed Bobby he was confessing to the assassination of the president of the United States my father was just in shock a lot of people think if there's a smoke looking gun that's it but the confessions from marello and trafficante himself come too late for Blakey if I had all that evidence in November of 63 uh I'd have a grand jury and I'd have an indictment whether I'd have conviction or not it's a different story it is unlikely that we will ever know where the Santo trafficante and Carlos marello with men who hired Oswald and Ruby but Santo trafficante was [Music] unique throughout his life the quiet Dawn kept out of the Limelight and never spent a single night in an American jail Santo trante was the big Mafia fish that got away and there will always remain the suspicion that Santo trafficante was the mob boss who pulled off the mafia's greatest [Music] hit in the early days of organized crime in America one man dominated the headlines alons Capone was America's first Superstar gangster he's said to be responsible for one of the bloodiest hits in mob history the St Valentine's Day Massacre Al Capone is arguably the only game gster at the time who could murder seven of his opponents in broad daylight in one of the most audacious hits at that time in gangster history but behind the headlines the true significance of Capone's career is less well known he became the face of organized crime in America and naturally the federal government had to come in and bring him down Capone Swagger set the tone for one of the most glamorous eras in Gangland History but it was Capone's weakness not his strength that would teach a group of Waring mobs a lesson they would never forget and set them on course for a transformation into the single powerful entity we now know as the American Mafia this is the real story of Al [Music] Capone 1924 Chicago in the suburb of Cicero Joseph clener the town's mayor addresses a crowd of reporters behind him stands the man who secured his election mobster alons Capone Al Capone realized that part of the secret to power was to control local governments which he did by Bri in officials he controlled a local mayor Joseph Kenna whom he considered his guy who was Duty bound to obey his orders but Capone isn't happy the mayor has gone off message and unexpectedly speaks out against illegal speak EES which are the foundation of Capone's criminal Empire Capone isn't going to allow such public disrespect so he and the mayor were standing on the steps of City Hall and they had some kind of argument so Al Just Whipped out the Blackjack he literally kicked the mayor down the steps to show publicly this is what happens to people even politicians who defy Al Capone other mob bosses would put the a straight behind closed doors but not Al Capone in this part of Chicago He fears no one what kind of man can beat up the mare directly in front of the cops and get away with it Capone's rise to power in Chicago begins in the year years of Prohibition in 1919 the US government Outlaws the sale of booze selling beer or whiskey is now a crime cue the arrival of a young New York Hood called Al Capone the young heavy has come to work for gang boss Johnny too too is building a successful business but bootlegging booze and illegally supplying it to the people of [Music] Chicago Tero is one of many gangsters across the US turning a fortune by making sure the good times continue to roll Dio's illegal speak EES serve his imported booze to Thirsty Chicagoans across the south of the city prohibition was a complete failure in big cities like New York and Chicago and Chicago already had a reputation for having a corrupt government and a thriving underworld even before [Music] prohibition and Chicago finds itself well placed for this unintended criminal opportunity Chicago became the quintessential prohibition City because of its location it was close to Canada just across Ross Lake Michigan that meant that booze could freely come into the city as an entry point gangsters like too quickly learn that there's big money in turning the smuggling and selling of booze into a slick [Music] business too's Chicago outfit becomes one of the biggest in the city and the rapid growth means too's always always on the lookout for fresh Talent enter alfons Capone and the young man's ruthlessness in business Sharps see him rapidly rise through the ranks he quickly identified Al Capone as a promising upand Comer and Protegé and gradually let Al Capone have more and more responsibility but too's success makes him a prime target for rival [Music] gangs one night Johnny Tero is ambushed he is shot repeatedly in the neck and groin his attacker is one of his underworld business rivals notorious gangster and Bootlegger George Bugs Moran bugs aims the gun at Johnny's head but as Tero waits for the coup to Grass bug's gun misfires he's out of bullets Moran leaves too to bleed out miraculously too survives but the attack affects him deeply Johnny Toro is almost murdered in front of his own apartment and he decides enough is enough to Rio's sh Chicago is no longer safe so he makes a life-changing decision for him and for Capone while Toro is recovering from his gunshot wounds he turns everything over to Al Capone you know his former Protegé and Capone of course is delighted by this Tero leaves behind one of the biggest bootlegging syndicates in America and hands the whole Chicago outfit to Al [Music] Capone at only 26 years old Capone is now one of the youngest mob bosses in America worth millions of dollars and he moves quickly to put his own stamp on the Chicago underworld Capone is a very ruthless individual a very violent individual he came from a very poor background realized very quickly that you know the only way to get to the top was through you know violence Capone clears the path to profit by bribing police intimidating politicians and threatening his Rivals Capone is soon outpacing his contemporaries in the other great prohibition City New York young gangsters like meansi and Frank Costello in fact the only mobster who can keep Pace with him is one s sa individual a bright young man who will go on to become one of the most important names in US gangster history lucky luchano the two great contemporaries was Al Capone in Chicago and Charles Lucky Luciano in New York lucky luchano is a rising left tenant in one of the big New York gangs but he approaches business in a very different way to Capone there was an immense difference between them Luciano did not look for the spotlight he wasn't interested in detention he knew secrecy was his best Safeguard while Capone's success is built on fear and intimidation luchano believes violence inevitably leads to conflict his Cardinal object was to be no Wars between the families attacking your rivals in the streets brought Double Trouble Revenge attacks an unwanted police [Music] attention if only the mobs could work together they could make far more money without attracting the cops he wanted no hits no headlines if there was Bloodshed the body shouldn't be found all he wanted was everyone should share the wealth but lano's way doesn't suit Capone he doesn't want to work with the others he just wants Chicago all to [Music] himself and the man who stands between Capone and being King of the Chicago underworld is George Bugs Moran the mobster who runs the north side of the city he thought he had to eliminate The Bugs Moran gang so he could be if you want to call it the boss of bosses no competition in Chicago Capone and Moran are heading down the road to a brutal War the two of them became Rivals for a criminal Empire only one of them could possibly survive was a essentially a fight to the death Capone's gang launch a series of violent attacks on Moran's Network gentlemen and Moran hits back Chicago has never seen violence like [Music] it the Press go into over over drive calling the bloody conflict Chicago's beer [Music] War Capon on the way to becoming America's first ever celebrity [Music] gangster Capone was never going to be an elusive mob boss working in the [Music] shadows he makes the five-star Metropol hotel in the center of Chicago his new HQ Capone takes over an entire floor with hookers regularly visiting the Metropole became a kind of unofficial City Hall in Chicago everybody knew where they could find him or somebody knew him he was accessible that was very unusual for a gangster and he loved to see and be seen wherever he went and he wore very conspicuous clothes his suits were kind of an electric blue or electric purple so he was a peacock and he loved to show [Music] off Capone bribes local lawmakers so he's free to flaunt his position in public without fear of arrest he wants people to know the face of Al Capone Capone loves his notoriety that he loves being seen as the bad guy and he really he sort of plays this up that you know the way he looks the way he dresses the way he acts he's almost like a Hollywood imitation of a gangster in many ways he was a huge personality he would go into a nightclub he would go into a restaurant and he would have to sit sit in the center of the room so that everybody would know that he was [Music] there but while Capone enjoys the Limelight in Chicago his headlines are causing serious alarm in New York Rivals like lucky luchano were appalled by this Behavior because they felt Capone was just attracting attention to their illicit activities they wish he would just stop and go away and let them continue without benefit of all this attention luchano and other wannabe bosses aren't interested in showing off they want to keep their mob business strictly out of sight of the public lano's dislike of publicity comes from his years as a young mobster working for one of the greatest racketeers of his era a man called Arnold Rothstein in New York Arnold Rothstein was essentially the founder of organized crime Inc numero uno number one the big man the big bankroll the guy who puts everything together luchano had seen how Rothstein had run some of the biggest bootlegging operations in the early years of Prohibition and he had done it by strictly staying in the shadows Rothstein had even taught luchiano how to fit into mainstream Society how to present himself as a businessman and not appear to be a gangster showing off luchano had learned from Rothstein that for Mob business to flourish it must remain out of the public [Music] eye and as he and other gangsters in New York make their plans in secret to expand the mob they wish the Capone would just disappear from the headlines but Chicago isn't going to go away and Capone war with Moran is about to spiral out of control on September the 20th 1926 Al Capone is eating at a favorite horn at the Hawthorne hotel on the outskirts of Chicago [Music] as usual Capone isn't hiding he likes to be seen and his arch rival Bugs Moran has been watching him very closely indeed they sent carloads of gunmen out there to blast the pump the gunmen open fire indiscriminately his bodyguard Frank Rio flings Capone to the floor to protect him thousands of bullets are Unleashed in a matter of [Music] minutes bullets and glass went flying and Capone realized how V able he was remarkably Capone survives and now he has one thing on his mind revenge and the Chicago Beer war is about to make headlines across the [Music] US Capone's philosophy was kill and then worry about the consequences it was a war zone they didn't use the word terrorism but gangsters were certainly terrorizing the city and it was seen as a national crisis the war rages on until 1929 when Capone decides to end it once and for [Music] all when vag Moran gets an anonymous tip off to buy a stolen load of Capone's bootlegged whiskey he thinks it's the perfect opportunity to get the upper hand on his arch rival Moran tells his crew they'll do the deal at their secret garage on February the 14th St Valentine's [Music] Day Moran's gang wait patiently for the load to arrive but before the shipment comes in bug's crew get an unexpected visit from the cops it looks like someone has ratted on the deal Moran's gang aren't too worried they can usually buy the cops Silence with a bribe or two but not these cops they aren't law en forces the Capone's coldblooded Killers he had one of his chief assassins put together a plan to eliminate as many of the bugs mourn gang members as possible the Assassins pretended to be policemen had the gangsters line up against the wall pretending to Frisk them Moran's men realized too late this isn't a raid it's a [Music] hit Capone decided to Stage a massacre but he didn't want to do it himself he wasn't going to stand there with a machine gun and spatter people with bullets he was much more likely to hire dangerous gunmen to assassinate somebody than to do it himself in a matter of seconds Moran s lie dead on the floor photographs of the shocking scen spread across the nation and the bloodbath is known forever as the St Valentine's Day Massacre to make sure that no one can pin the killings on him Capone sits a long way away in the company of an attorney but he knows that he will be the beneficiary with Moran out of the way Chicago is his if Moran is dead Capone realizes he's one that he has sole control of the uh rackets in Chicago and he's the top dog there and it means that he's immensely wealthy in today's dollars he would be a billionaire but Moran wasn't among the seven corpses lying on the garage floor he never made it to the scene of the shooting when he saw the cop car outside he kept [Music] driving Capone's arch enemy is still alive and Capone is about to discover that his botched Valentine's Day Massacre will add powerful names to his list of enemies while Capone is publicly battling with Moran for supremacy of Chicago behind the scenes upand cominging mobster lucky luchano is plotting to make his own power play for New York his vision is to end the violent infighting and ease the pressure from Lauren enforcement it's a revolution in the criminal [Music] underworld with Capone's Massacre still fresh in the headlines luchano and other New York Mobsters plan a conference in Atlantic City a lot of what they wanted to talk about at the Atlantic City conference is how do we do this in a matter where not everybody ends up dead how do we do this in a way that doesn't draw the attention from the authorities the obvious move is to get violence off the streets and to run the mob as a professional business the approach couldn't suit Capone less so luchano and the others take the bull by the horns and invite the hot-headed Chicago killer to the Atlantic City conference to sit down and thrash it out other gangsters either in Chicago or in New York City they're a little wary of him because they did regard him as a bit of a Loose Cannon and they really didn't like his publicity seeking uh personality fresh in everyone's mind is the St Valentine's Day Massacre Capone may love to seek out the Limelight but luchano and the other Mobsters predict severe consequences it was very rational for racketeers as much as people think that they're these big tough guys who are afraid of nothing they're very afraid of the government and the last thing they want is to bring down the full force of the United States government on them luchano with the other gangsters ask Capone to change his ways but Capone takes issue with his competitors telling him how to run his [Music] business and he storms out it soon becomes clear that Capone should have listened to luchano just as luchiano warned Capone's wild killings soon come to the attention of the most important man in America there was a new president Herbert Hoover and his first thing was he was confronted by headlines from coast to coast about this massacre and about these outrageous activities in Chicago Hoover launches a special task force with one Mission get Capone the St Valentine St Massacre marked a turning point at the beginning of a concerted Federal effort to get Capone I.E get him behind bars someway luano and other gangsters try to put out the public Firestorm the Capone has started [Music] they meet with journalists and tell them Capone's Chicago outfit will be disbanded the story is just a ruse to diffuse the [Music] heat but Capone knows the story is also a message the other families are running out of patience with both the US government and the mob on his case it looks like it's time for Capone to lie low Capone's next move takes Everyone by surprise he finds safety in the one place no one would expect him to [Music] [Music] go he bribes police officers to get him sent to a corrupt jail in [Music] Philadelphia where he finds conditions far from typical his stay in the Philadelphia Penitentiary was more like a stay in a hotel or a rest cure people waited on him hand and foot there everybody was corrupted and he had a very easy time there it was relaxing the prison term is in fact part of a deal broken with luchano and other mobsters and Capone is living the high life at the expense of the US government but back in Chicago the feds have got different plans for Al [Music] Capone news re Across the Nation shows Elite teams of prohibition agents aggressively targeting Capone's Empire of booze the squad has been handpicked by the Young and handsome Elliot Nest nicknamed The Untouchables it's soon clear the Capone can't buy them off the agents who were sent to Chicago to get Capone weren't bribable they were paid by the federal government and they had a different Allegiance a different loyalty they weren't locals and this made a big difference NES and his Squad use wiretaps to find out where the illegal boo is kept and then raid the warehouses NES turns Capone's love of publicity against him he tips off newspaper reporters who show the world that even Al Capone isn't above the law meanwhile the treasury Department scrutinized Capone's financial affairs back in his Philadelphia cell the man who craves public is getting plenty but it isn't the kind he's used to after 10 months behind bars Big Al gets secretly let out of prison by officials and heads back to Chicago when he returns he finds the government have dragged his reputation through the mud and Al Capone is no longer the king of Chicago he's now Public Enemy Number One the obvious move for Capone will be to lie low but he can't resist publicity so Capone decides to organize a charm offensive he's a publicity Hound he loves you know being in the spotlight he loves seeing his picture in the newspaper no publicity is bad publicity Capone counters the government's campaign and appeals directly to the people of Chicago Capone decided to improve his Public Image by opening a soup kitchen many of the working men who were his people were out of work so he wanted to play the Robin Hood figure but not only that he wanted newsreal cameras to come and see him feeding the working people people Capone says the real Crooks weren't Hustlers like him but stock market speculators but the story is always Al Capone Capone was a narcissist to the extent that he had a distorted impression of reality so he saw himself as the center of almost anything that was going on and uh he felt that he was a Force for good in the world Capone may think he's a good guy but the US government could hardly disagree [Music] more working diligently behind the scenes federal agents have been building a strong case for tax evasion Capone was immensely rich in today's money he was worth billions and he didn't pay his taxes the police smash open Capone's private safe he liked to keep records of what was coming to him to make sure he wasn't being cheated so finally they had the goods on him facing Pride on income tax evasion Al Capone finds an arous government ready to put him behind bars Capone's indictment hits the headlines but the charges don't bother Capone his accountants can strike a deal when he found out he was under investigation by fed Auditors he wanted to cop a plea make a plea bargain admit that he had not paid taxes for several years he offered the United States government a million dollars to take care of his back back taxes but they wouldn't take that even when he's brought to trial Capone is confident that he can walk away the king of Chicago has a shire way to beat the rap it seemed like he was going to have another brush with the law he didn't pay his taxes haha who would have expected that he would and then he would eventually get off scottf free and bribe the jurors if necessary which is what he did at the trial Capone's men open the checkbooks they pay off members of the jury it's a classic mop tactic that has worked before not this time at the last moment the judge shows that the law is one step ahead the authorities realized that he probably would try to bribe the jurors or threaten them in some way so they wouldn't convict him so they brought in at to everybody's surprise at the last minute another jury who couldn't have been tampered with [Music] Capone couldn't be outfought but he had been out thought he gets an 11-year conviction for tax evasion nobody got 11 years for income tax violation that that kind of case would have resulted in 18 months or something but they gave him 11 years he was stunned his lawyers were stunned everybody was stunned it didn't seem possible that one could be jailed for such a quote minor offense of course the government wanted to make an example of Capone Al Capone the man who wants publicly beat a mayor now finds himself publicly humiliated by the law and things will go from bad to worse for Capone as he discovers that prison life isn't so easy when everyone knows your [Applause] face on October 24th 1931 Al Capone one of the best known Mobsters in the world goes to jail for tax evasion they didn't get him for any of his Gunplay for any of his murders for any his racketeering they got him on income tax evasion something he had never ENT anticipating Capone's downfall makes the news across the [Music] world it looks like the US government has dealt a mortal blow to organized crime but in fact Capone has provided gangsters like lucky luchiano with a smoke [Music] screen beyond the glare of publicity a new secretive and highly effective organization of mobsters is taking shape and they're happy that Capone is locked away other gangsters Rejoice that Capone was now no longer at large on the other hand they were afraid that the same thing could happen to them gangsters learned to avoid publicity from Capone because they saw where it got him they realized it made him a target for federal investigations that eventually put him in jail outside lucky luchiana will make sure that the negative publicity of Gangland violence will never again damage their [Music] business when luchiano makes his play for control of the New York mob he does it not by ordering a public Massacre but with just two strategic hits first he sacrifices his own Godfather Joe Masia and next maser's arch rival Salvatore barzano luchano is now the most powerful mobster in New York join the soon he will lead the commission the mob's board of directors and Usher in a new era of cooperation and wealth for what will become the American Mafia where Capone failed in his Valentine's Day Massacre lucky luchano takes everything with just two [Music] deaths Behind Bars his Empire gone Capone's reputation is in tatters now the government decide to use Capone for some publicity of their own they move America's most high-profile gangster to the new island Fortress of Alcatraz President Hoover said to the warden if you want the world to know what a horrible Place Alcatraz is transfer El Capone out there and that is exactly what they did he was in a 6t by 10t cell and they put him on the outside where he could look across the bay at San Francisco for people to come to visit him they had to get on a fery boat and go across the water no longer the feared man he once was for the first time in in his life Capone tries to keep a low profile when Al Capone was an alcat it was humiliating in part because other prisoners were not afraid of him he was given a very derogatory term the with the mop uh because he was often seen mopping Capone learns that his reputation is now a magnet for criminals wanting to make a name one is Jimmy Lucas a member of a gang called the Texas Cowboys Capone's Fall From Grace is complete his life in the spotlight is bearing bitter [Music] harvest in time prison doctors discover that perhaps Capone wasn't entirely to blame for his Reckless Behavior Al Capone suffered from syphilis he acquired it from prostitutes as a Young Man in Brooklyn didn't realize that he had it and it explains a lot about his behavior and his temperamental outbursts throughout his life as he got older it also shattered his health because there was no cure for it at the time in 193 9 Capone is released from prison on medical advice by now the syphilis had spread to his brain and Al Capone has the mental age of a 12-year-old the family had a big party for him in Chicago when he got released and my mother said that Al was there but he would come up to her and say who are you and then he would go over to his own sister and say who are you [Applause] Al Capone will live out the rest of his life in seclusion in his mansion in Florida a gangster without a [Music] gang on January the 18th 1947 shortly after celebrating his 48th birthday Al Capone suffers a massive stroke and slips into to aoma at almost the exact same time some of the biggest mob bosses in the US meet in Havana Cuba they plan the future of the mob a future without Al Capone instead it will be led by lucky luchano he wanted the American Mafia to be a mirror of American capitalism to to cash in on anything that worked with capitalism and he wasn't going to be restricted this was a new era and he was going to modernize the mob and that is exactly what he did a few days after his stroke Capone dies the era of celebrity mobster is over and a new generation of gangsters is born now Mobsters will work together to create a secret society that dominate crime for Generations they call it our thing laanstra the world will know it by another name the American Mafia the foundations for this organization were laid by Al Capone but his contribution wasn't through inspiration it was his brutal and public mistakes that had taught the mob how not to behave his career may have ended in disaster but to this day Al Capone defiantly Remains the most famous name in mob history Public Enemy Number [Music] [Music] One [Music] [Music]

Channel: Our History

Views: 1,207,685

Keywords: our history, documentary, world history documentary, documentary channel, award winning, life stories, best documentaries, daily life, real world, point of view, story, full documentary, history, historical, history documentary, al capone, mafia history, mafia documentary, al capone documentary, Santo Trafficante, santo trafficante documentary

Id: DUtPro2YxXE

Length: 86min 44sec (5204 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 07 2023