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Gangster Era

05.14.12

Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone (1899-1947) rose to infamy as a gangster in Chicago during the 1920s and early 1930s. The Bureau of Investigation (the FBI’s predecessor) joined the Bureau of Prohibition and other agencies in investigating Capone. In 1931, Capone was sentenced to prison for tax evasion. Suffering from a case of syphilis that left him too mentally ill to resume his previous criminal activities, he was paroled in 1939 and settled in Florida, where he lived until his death in 1947.
07.12.11

Machine Gun Kelly

George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes (1895 –1954) was a notorious criminal during the gangster era. This release covers the investigation of the Charles Urschel kidnapping and the resulting court case. This release covers the years 1933-1959.
07.07.11

Barker/Karpis Gang

Alvin Francis “Creepy” Karpis, born as Karpowicz (1907-1979), was a notorious gangster of the 1930s. He committed many of his crimes with a gang of criminals, including several Barker brothers; “Doc” and Fred Barker were two of the most active members. Their mother Kate “Ma” Barker was also involved, though not as the criminal mastermind later media legend made her out to be. The Barker/Karpis gang was responsible for two of the era’s most notorious kidnappings—the abduction of William Hamm in 1933 and Edward Bremer, Jr., in 1934. This release consists of the extensive Bureau file on the Barker/Karpis gang. The bulk of it covers from 1933 to 1936, but it extends well into the 1970s because Karpis lived to late in the decade.
05.11.11

Meyer Lansky

Meyer Lansky (1902-1983) was involved in a wide-range of organized criminal activity and was associated with many other well known criminal figures from the 1920s to the 1970s. Lansky was especially active in gambling ventures, including the rise of Las Vegas and efforts to build casinos in Cuba before the communist revolution there. In 1972, he was indicted on charges that he and others had skimmed millions of dollars from a Vegas casino that they owned; the indictment on Lansky was later dismissed since he was considered too ill to face trial. The files in this release range from 1950 to 1978.
03.28.11
03.28.11

Herman Barker

(1873-1935)
03.24.11
03.02.11
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12.06.10

Arthur Flegenheimer (Dutch Schultz)

Arthur “Dutch Schultz” Flegenheimer (1902-1935) was a New York City racketeer known for bootlegging, income tax evasion, and a number of other crimes.
12.06.10
12.06.10
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12.06.10

John Dillinger

John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. (1903-1934) was a Midwestern bank robber, auto thief, and fugitive who captured the national imagination between 1933 and 1934. In March 1934, Dillinger stole a car and crossed state lines following a sensational prison break, giving the FBI jurisdiction to join the manhunt. On July 22, 1934, FBI agents closed in on Dillinger outside of the Biograph Theater in Chicago and shot and killed him as he reached for his pistol. These files range from 1933 to the mid-1970s, covering Dillinger’s rise as a criminal and the FBI investigation of him, his gang, and other associates and continuing well past his death due as a result of ongoing public interest.
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