Who was Eliot Ness

�

�

Q.� There's a reference to him in a song by Dr Dre.

A.� Indeed. But he's probably more famous from books, TV and a film starring Kevin Costner.

�

Q.� Tell me more.

A. Ness was brought in to fight corruption and the gangsters in 1930s Chicago. By late 1928, Al Capone was one of the most successful criminals in the USA. He was so powerful than Frank Loesch, president of the Chicago Crime Commission, had to ask Capone's help in securing an honest election in one area. Everybody was corrupt, from the Illinois governor to the mayor of Chicago.

�

Q.� Something had to be done

A.� Oh yes. The newly-elected President Herbert Hoover was determined to end Capone's career. He put Andrew Mellon, secretary of the Treasury, in charge of ending the Mob. There were two ways to fight Capone: income tax evasion and violations of the Volstead Act that enforced Prohibition.

�

Q.� Prohibition

A.� Yes. The US government thought all evils would be wiped out if they banned the demon drink. Instead, it caused more, including an empire for gangsters to make and sell illegal alcohol.

�

Q.� So where does Elliot Ness come in

A.� Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents built a case against Capone by proving that Capone's net worth and net expenditures were far in excess of his income in the years when he had not filed income tax statements. District attorney George E Johnson had the job of closing down Capone's enormous bootlegging operations. Finding honest men in the corruption-ridden Prohibition Bureau was no easy task. Eliot Ness, one of the few agents who had earned a reputation for reliability and honesty, was told to assemble and lead a team to go after Capone's breweries and distilleries.

�

Q.� So who were the Untouchables

A.� Marty Lahart, an Irish sports and fitness enthusiast; Sam Seager, a tough, former prison guard on death row; Barney Cloonan, a giant muscular Irishman; Lyle Chapman, a brilliant problem-solver and tough guy; Tom Friel, a former state trooper; Joe Leeson, a genius at surveillance and tailing drivers; Paul Robsky, a short, brave little guy who as good at intelligence-gathering; Mike King, a great analyst; Bill Gardner, an enormous former football player.

�

Q.� So how much was Capone making

A.� Ness estimated that Capone had at least 20 breweries in operation. Each brewery was producing 100 barrels of beer a day. The liquor, bought from the Mafia, was delivered through the same system as the beer. Capone was turning over $1.5 million a week. About a third of the alcohol was being paid out in bribes and protection.

�

Q.� And was Ness making big money for his high-profile crime fight

A.� No. An annual salary of $2,800. His team was so successful that Capone tried bribing them, with $2,000 a week. A man threw an envelope stuffed with cash into Seager and Lahart's car. They chased him and tossed the money back at him. The story was carried by newspapers all over the country, one of which coined the term The Untouchables.

�

Q.� So what did Ness get out of it

A.� Some have claimed, wrongly, that Ness was an egomaniac who craved attention and his crusade against Capone was the surest way to get that attention. He certainly enjoyed publicity, but above all else he was committed the justice: to putting Capone away and the crooked officials who helped him.

�

Q.� And did he succeed

A.� A secret grand jury in 1931 indicted Capone on tax evasion charges, agreeing that he had a tax liability of $32,488.81. Then he 68 members of his gang were charged with 5,000 violations of the prohibition act. Capone faced 34 years in jail and his lawyers did a deal: he would plead guilty for a two-and-a-half-year term. But the judge would not allow it and Capone was told to withraw his guilty plea and a trial was scheduled for October.

�

Q.� He didn't get off

A.� No, but he thought he would. His mob had bribed, or threatened, the jury. At the last minute, the judge switched the jury with one that had been assembled for a different trial. Capone was convicted and jailed for 11 years.

�

Q.� And then

A.� Ness was promoted to chief investigator of prohibition forces for Chicago. He died in 1957, aged 54. Capone, already infected with syphilis, died in jail, in a near-vegetative state.

�

Q.� And the TV spin-offs

A.� Ness co-wrote his memoirs, called The Untouchables, with Oscar Fraley, but it was not published until after his death. The stories were made into a TV series starring Robert Stack. It ran for 114 episodes over four seasons and much of the material was fabricated to fill. The 1987 film starring Kevin Costner and Sean Connery was also fictional, although Costner's quiet and thoughtful Ness was more authentic than Stack's humourless automaton.

�

To ask a question about People & Places, click here

By Steve Cunningham