# Chicago letter: Capone sentenced to six months for contempt (27 February 1931)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/fbi-vault-capone-p26-contempt-sentence-letter-1931/

The Bureau's Chicago office reports to the Director that Judge James H. Wilkerson sentenced Capone to six months in the Cook County jail for contempt of court on 27 February 1931, and that Chicago police had arrested him on a vagrancy charge two days earlier.

Part 26 of the FBI Vault's Capone file, scans 3 and 4. The Bureau's cover sheet for the part (scan 1) reads "Alphonse Capone, Part 8, Bufile 69-180". This air-mail letter, dated February 27th, 1931, on Bureau of Investigation letterhead (Post Office Box 1405, Chicago), is from the Acting Special Agent in Charge at Chicago to the Director, captioned "Alphonse Capone; Kenneth Phillips, M.D.; Contempt of Court; Perjury". It carries the serial 69-180-55. Scans 5 and 6 are a second copy.

The letter reports that the case went to trial at 10 a.m. on February 25th, 1931, that testimony and arguments closed that day, February 27th, "after which Federal Judge James H. Wilkerson sentenced subject Capone to serve a term of six months in the Cook County, Illinois jail", with the final order to be entered on March 2nd, 1931, when he would allow thirty days to file an appeal. Capone was released on his existing $5,000 bond. The letter encloses the court reporter's transcript of the judge's finding (filed separately here). It adds that Chicago police detectives arrested Capone at the noon recess on February 25th as he left the federal court, "in connection with the Vagrancy charge pending against him at Chicago", and that Municipal Judge Thomas Green released him on a $10,000 bond.

On scan 4 the writer reports that United States Attorney George E. Q. Johnson congratulated the Bureau on the evidence and the work done for the trial, and said his office would take no prosecutive action in Chicago against Dr. Phillips. The text was read from the page image of scan 3, which is stored here, and from the OCR of scan 4.

## Sources

- FBI Records: The Vault: https://vault.fbi.gov/Al%20Capone/Al%20Capone%20Part%2026/view
- FBI Vault: Al Capone (file index): https://vault.fbi.gov/Al%20Capone