Before Prohibition started crime was at an all time high. Many people thought it was related to alcohol and removing it would lower the crime rate and maybe even remove it altogether. After National Prohibition was passed the crime rate shot passed the all-time high and created the highest homicide rate of the early 20th century. Apart from not getting rid of crime, Prohibition encourage criminals to be more organized which created more gangs. Normal men soon found out that crime could pay. Immigrants who had very little hope of getting rich found money in the illegal activities.
Al capone
Al Capone was a notorious gangster during the Prohibition era. Alphonse Capone was raised by his Italian family. He started out working in a munitions factory and as a paper cutter. Then he was hired as a bartender at a nightclub called the Harvard Inn. Capone got into a fight with a male customer and was cut across the face with a knife. This is how he earned the nickname Scarface. When he was 22 Capone moved to Chicago with Johnny Torrio. They owned a nightclub, gambling den, and a brothel called the Four Deuces. He soon moved up in the world of illegal activities and owned almost half of all the speakeasies in Chicago. He then attempted to assassinate another powerful crime boss, Bugs Moran. This even is known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Four bootleggers were killed by Capone's pseudo policemen. Moran wasn't there and no one was ever accused of these crimes. Capone was arrested and convicted of income tax evasion. He was sentenced to jail for 11 years on October 17, 1931. He got early in 1939 for good behavior but was suffering from syphilis. Capone was plagued with many health problems and died in 1947 at age 45.