Telegram to U.S. Attorney Johnson about Capone in the Cook County Jail (2 December 1931)
Western Union telegram of 2 December 1931 to George E. Q. Johnson reporting that Al Capone was running his liquor business from the county jail, and asking for an investigation.
- Date
- 1931-12-02
- Kind
- case-file
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- NAID
- 12021804
- Rights
- A record of the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Department of Justice, held by the National Archives at Chicago in Record Group 118. A United States government work, public domain in the United States under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog lists access and use as unrestricted.
A Western Union telegram, “CK CHICAGO ILL DEC 2 1931,” addressed to “GEORGE E Q JOHNSON U S DISTRICT ATTORNEY FEDERAL BLDG CHICAGO ILL.” The form is printed “Received at 427 So. LaSalle St., Chicago, Ill.,” the telegraph office, and the U.S. Attorney’s receipt stamp is dated the next day. It reads, in part:
WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT AL CAPONE IS USING THE COUNTY JAIL FOR HIS LIQUOR BUSINESS AND TRANSACTS FROM THERE POSSIBLY AS MUCH IF NOT MORE THAN HE USED TO AT HIS OLD HEADQUARTERS AT THE LEXINGTON HOTEL
The sender says he is employed “at this branch of service,” asks why “every privilege is extended to him and none to the others,” and asks for an investigation. The telegram is signed only “A.” The catalog says an official inquiry followed; the U.S. Attorney’s file also holds the December 1931 contempt investigation of the jail’s superintendent and assistant superintendent.
Special Agent Frank J. Wilson’s 1933 report states that after sentencing Capone was confined in the Cook County Jail awaiting the outcome of his appeal. The stored image was downloaded from the National Archives catalog on 12 October 2026 and reduced in size.
