Ernesto Rossi (gangster) Ernesto Rossi (gangster) Ernest "Hoppy" Rossi (May 27, 1903 – April 17, 1931) was a follower of Frankie Yale and friend and associate of Al Capone before he moved from Brooklyn to Chicago. Ernest was born on May 27, 1903 to Pasquale Rossi and Anna Costa at 250 Mott Street. Immigration ship manifests show that his parents were recent immigrants to New York City from Naples, Italy. According to police, Rossi had a long police record and was described as a "gangster and racketeer". He was a known follower of Frankie Yale and was a friend and associate of Al
Al Capone Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for the treatment of paresis (caused by late-stage syphilis). Hopkins refused to admit him based solely on his reputation, but Union Memorial Hospital accepted him. Capone was grateful for the compassionate care that he received and donated two Japanese weeping cherry trees to Union Memorial Hospital in 1939. A very sickly Capone left Baltimore on March 20, 1940, after a few weeks inpatient and a few weeks outpatient, for Palm Island, Florida. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist performed examinations and concluded that Capone had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. Capone spent