Al Capone spending. The key to Capone's conviction on tax charges was proving his income, and the most valuable evidence in that regard originated in his offer to pay tax. Ralph, his brother and a gangster in his own right, was tried for tax evasion in 1930. Ralph spent the next three years in prison after being convicted in a two-week trial over which Wilkerson presided. Capone ordered his lawyer to regularize his tax position. Crucially, during the ultimately abortive negotiations that followed, his lawyer stated the income that Capone was willing to pay tax on for various years, admitting income of
Louis Capone pastries) in Brooklyn. The "pasticceria" became a popular hangout for teenagers, including future street gang leaders Abe Reles and Harry Maione. Capone built up a rapport with the boys by giving them free food. These young men soon became Capone's protégés in crime. Capone had strong connections with the Purple Gang of Detroit, and was operating loansharking operations in both Detroit and New York. He was also involved in labor racketeering with the local Plasterers Union and had close ties with mobster Joe Adonis. With the end of the Castellammarese War in 1931, Reles' and Maione's gangs developed into a