CRIME: Capone & Caponies

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Verdict-At 10:50 p. m. the jury was ready, but Snorkey was nowhere to be seen. Lawyer Ahern rushed to a telephone. Fifteen minutes later in popped Snorkey, panting, sweating. He tossed a green coat & hat on the counsel table, mopped his fat head with a green handkerchief. In came the jury.

"We, the jury, find the defendant guilty on counts i, 5, 9, 13 & 18 in the second indictment, and not guilty on counts 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, n, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 & 22."

Judge Wilkerson looked puzzled. So did Messrs. Ahern & Fink. "Inconsistent," mumbled the prosecution. Snorkey grinned broadly.

Soon the meaning of the verdict became apparent. The jury had decided Snorkey feloniously "attempted to evade & defeat" the income tax in 1925, 1926, 1927, but in 1924 & 1928 he only "failed" to pay up. The jury apparently thought he had tried his best in 1929.

The prosecution huddled and counted up. For each of the two years Capone had merely neglected to pay his tax, he might be sentenced to a year in the penitentiary; for each of the other three years he could be given a five-year sentence; on every count he could be fined $10,000; total, 17 years, $50,000. Inconsistent or not, the Government was satisfied with the verdict, moved to attach his worldly possessions in lieu of the $215,000 he owed.

Snorkey did not think Judge Wilkerson would give him the maximum penalty. He grinned in all directions around the courtroom, then got to his feet, hurried to an elevator, descended to the street, jumped into a waiting automobile and disappeared into the sprawling city whose thousands of illicit night haunts were his Empire.