Al Capone ‘Didn't Deserve To Go To Alcatraz,' Says Closest Surviving Relative
Nov. 21 2011, Published 4:00 a.m. ET
By Breaking Celebrity News Staff
Notorious gangster Al Capone is known as the most infamous criminals of the 1920s, but his closest living relative says he didn’t deserve being sent to Alcatraz, the harshest prison in the country with the most despicable criminals.
"He was the King of Chicago," Al's great-grand niece, Deirdre Marie Capone told Breaking Celebrity News in an exclusive interview.
"He was convicted of tax evasion and sent there when he was 35. He should never have been there (Alcatraz) because it was a white collar crime. He got out at 40 and died at 48 of a stroke.
"Al Capone didn’t do anything different to JFK, Rockefeller or Ford. They were all immigrants, this was the prohibition era and the jazz age and everyone wanted alcohol, but there was a group of businessmen who wanted to take him down because he was Italian, and he paid for it."
Deirdre, author of the book, Uncle Al Capone: The Untold Story From Inside His Family, was just seven when her famous relative died, but she has fond memories that contradict the Hollywood image portrayed of him.