Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion and paid every cent, a live TV search for his vault found nothing, and his family sold his pistol for $860,000

The Treasury Department built the case that ended Al Capone's career. He was convicted of income tax evasion on 18 October 1931. On 24 November a federal judge in Chicago sentenced him to 11 years, a $50,000 fine and $7,692 in court costs, on top of $215,000 plus interest in back taxes. He served in Atlanta and at Alcatraz. He was released on 16 November 1939, after seven years, six months and 15 days, having paid all fines and back taxes, according to the FBI. Syphilis had damaged his brain. In 1946 two doctors found he had the mentality of a 12-year-old. He lived with his wife and family in the Palm Island house he bought in 1928 and died there of a stroke and pneumonia on 25 January 1947. The search for hidden Capone money went on. On 21 April 1986 about 30 million viewers watched Geraldo Rivera's live special open a vault under Chicago's Lexington Hotel, Capone's headquarters from 1928 to 1932, with a medical examiner standing by. It held a couple of old bottles and dust. The hotel was demolished in 1996. In October 2021 Capone's family, whose three surviving granddaughters live in California, sold his belongings at auction in Sacramento for at least $3 million. His Colt .45 pistol brought $860,000.