Chicago in the 1930s 5,000 "Prohibition" violations that could have "nailed him" for 25,000-years-to-life if convicted on all the charges. And, it has been said that Capone underling Gus Winkler was prevented by other Capone men from freeing him outright, with $100,000 upfront (a tax payment, not a bribe) to the federal taxman. On 24 October 1931, one week after he was convicted of tax evasion, Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison (first, Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, then Alcatraz Island), fined $50,000 and charged $30,000 in court costs. While awaiting transfer to Atlanta to serve his sentence, Capone sat in Cook
Al Capone but Capone's lawyers incompetently failed to make the necessary timely objection; they ran a basically irrelevant defense of gambling losses. Judge Wilkerson allowed Capone's spending to be presented at very great length. There was no doubt that Capone "spent" vast sums but, legally speaking, the case against him centered on the size of his "income". Capone was convicted on October 17, and was sentenced a week later to eleven years in federal prison, fined $50,000 plus $7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes. The contempt of court sentence was served