Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Record

Finding aid

1934/1963

National Archives at San Francisco

National Archives list of former Alcatraz inmates: Capone, register 85

The National Archives at San Francisco lists Alphonse Capone, called Scarface on the list, among former inmates of the U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, register number 85.

Date
1934/1963
Kind
finding-aid
Source
National Archives at San Francisco
Retrieved
2026-10-11
Rights
A finding aid of the National Archives and Records Administration, a United States government work. Public domain in the United States. 17 U.S.C. § 105. The underlying inmate files are federal records; access to some pages can be restricted for living people.

The finding aid says the National Archives at San Francisco holds inmate case files, identification photographs, and warden’s notebook pages for most of the people on the list. It describes the records as Record Group 129, from the Bureau of Prisons’ use of Alcatraz Island as a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963.

In the alphabetical list the entry reads: CAPONE, ALPHONSE “SCARFACE” — register number 85.

The list also has an entry for ACCARDO, ANTHONY MICHAEL, register number 1498. That is Anthony Michael Accardo, born 1923 according to the National Archives catalog entry for his case file (NAID 236734750), a different man from the Chicago figure Anthony Joseph (Tony) Accardo (see the FBI Vault file on Anthony Accardo and the Anthony Accardo person page); this archive does not cite the entry for the Chicago figure. This page does not describe Capone’s time on the island beyond the line the finding aid prints. Capone’s Alcatraz inmate case file is catalogued separately as National Archives Identifier 117695842; see that finding aid.

itemFBI Vault file on Alphonse CaponeThe FBI Vault's release of the Bureau file on Alphonse Gabriel Capone, in 36 parts, with the Bureau's own summary of the investigation.itemAl Capone mug shot, 1934 (front)Front identification photograph published by the FBI as Al Capone's 1934 mug shot. A copy is stored with this archive.itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Alphonse Capone, No. 85Bureau of Prisons form with Capone's Alcatraz identification photograph, holding a card numbered 85. It records his receipt from Atlanta on Aug. 22, 1934, his tax sentence, parole denied in 1935, and his transfer to Terminal Island in January 1939.itemCapone's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 85 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for Capone's comprehensive Alcatraz inmate case file, 2,688 pages, not yet online. The description gives receipt from Atlanta on 22 August 1934, transfer on 4 January 1939, and death on 25 January 1947 at Miami Beach.itemBureau of Prisons Notorious Offender Files, 1920–2010: Capone, boxes 32–33National Archives series of Bureau of Prisons files on notorious inmates. The container list places Capone's file, under register numbers 85-AZ, 397-CAL and 9243-NE, in boxes 32 and 33. Access is fully restricted.itemAlcatraz (Federal Bureau of Prisons history page)The Bureau of Prisons' history page on Alcatraz names Al Capone among the well-known criminals who did time there, and says most of its prisoners were not well-known gangsters.item"The Man Who Tried to Kill Al Capone" (National Park Service, Alcatraz Island)National Park Service article on Alcatraz inmate James "Tex" Lucas. It states that on June 23, 1936 Lucas attacked Capone in the shower room and that Capone suffered a minor chest wound and superficial cuts to his hands.