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Michael Malone stood patiently in the courtroom elevator waiting for the doors to open so
he could exit.
But when the bell chimed, and the doors slid aside, the man he had helped indict stood
before him.
The man was Al Capone, one of the deadliest gangsters of all time.
Capone stared at Malone with hatred in his eyes.
He was face to face with the undercover agent who had taken him and his illegal organization
down.
Michael Malone was a federal agent with the Treasury Department’s Intelligence Unit,
also known as the “T-Men.”
What made Malone different from other agents was his ability to go undercover and infiltrate
illegal organizations.
He was so good at what he did, that it wasn’t until relatively recently that we uncovered
the extent of his work.
He was affectionately nicknamed “Mysterious Mike” by his colleagues as he was always
able to fool the bad guys into giving him the intelligence he needed.
One of his greatest accomplishments was bringing down Al Capone.
He helped the feds send the dangerous mobster to jail.
And the story of how he did it is absolutely crazy.
Michael Malone grew up in New Jersey and was constantly around other European immigrants.
From the community he learned how to speak Gaelic, Italian, Yiddish, and Greek.
This skill would later allow him to infiltrate Capone’s gang and eventually bring him to
justice.
Malone was considered “black Irish” because of his dark hair and skin resembling the population
of southern Europe.
And to Capone, he looked like someone from Italy.
Malone’s accent and disguise was so good that Capone later said: “The only thing
that fooled me was your looks.
You look like an Italian.
You took your chances, and I took mine.
I lost.”
Except he used much more colorful language.
Malone had started his career in World War I where he fought and honed his combat skills.
Upon returning home to the United States he was picked up by the Treasury Department’s
Intelligence Unit where he would spend the rest of his career.
He worked on several undercover cases, but it was when he infiltrated a West Coast gang
of rumrunners selling contraband Canadian Liquor from boats off the coast of San Francisco
that his superiors really took notice.
Malone had donned the persona of a gangster from Chicago who wanted to invest in the illegal
enterprise.
He learned the inner workings of the rumrunners and then set up a nighttime sting operation.
He brought agents posing as gang members with him out to ship in a speed boat.
Malone negotiated the deal, and when money exchanged hands, he launched a flare calling
in nearby Coast Guard ships.
They boarded the bootlegger’s vessel and shut down the operation.
It was soon after the success of this mission that J. Edgar Hoover discussed arresting Capone
and his gang with Malone’s boss.
The plan was to get Al Capone on tax charges, so it only made sense that the Treasury Department’s
Intelligence Unit was involved.
The mission to bring Capone down was so important that a group of wealthy businessmen in Chicago
called “The Secret Six,” donated a massive amount of money to the operation.
Malone would use some of this money to buy expensive clothing to complete his disguise
and infiltrate the mob bosses’ ranks.
Malone knew the best and quickest way to get to Capone was to have the gangster take notice
of him.
He put on his disguise and entered the lobby of the Lexington Hotel where Capone and his
men had set up shop.
Malone was wearing a fancy suit, purple shirt, and white hat to make sure he stood out.
Every day he would sit in the lobby of the Lexington and read a newspaper.
He made sure to speak in an Italian accent whenever someone important passed by.
It took days, but eventually Capone and his men noticed him.
But Malone knew his disguise alone wouldn’t be enough to ensure that he would be allowed
into the gang.
Before the mission began he did something incredibly ingenious.
Malone went to Philadelphia to meet with another gangster named Max ‘Boo Boo’ Hoff.
Malone infiltrated Hoff’s organization and learned about the inner workings of the gangster
underworld.
Although Malone probably had enough intelligence to arrest Hoff, he knew the main target would
be Capone, and he didn’t want to blow his cover.
While in Chicago and waiting patiently for a way into Capone’s gang, Malone mailed
letters back to his new friends in Phili.
The gangsters there would write back using mob lingo.
Once Capone noticed Malone he sent his men to find out more information about the nicely
dressed man in the lobby of his hotel.
When Capone’s men broke into Malone’s room they found the letters from the Philadelphia
mob.
This added legitimacy to Malone’s undercover character.
At this point Capone had already learned the man in the lobby’s name.
Malone’s alias was Mike Lepito, and when Capone’s men had reported back to him about
what they found in Lepito’s room, Capone had him questioned by his associates.
They asked “Lepito” what his business in town was.
He replied in his Italian accent that he was on the run for burglary in Philadelphia.
The gangsters bought the story hook, line, and sinker.
They figured that this hotshot from Phili would make a good addition to their Chicago
crew.
Malone was invited to a poker game where Capone’s men discussed gang related plans and news.
He was next invited to a dinner at the gang's hangout at the New Florence.
Malone continued to make connections and gather intel for the Federal Government that would
be later used to arrest and try Capone and his men.
Then Malone made a huge breakthrough.
He was invited to a birthday party for mobster Frank Nitti at the Lexington.
The party was planned by Capone himself, and it was here that Malone would first meet the
mob boss.
Malone had already become friendly with several of Capone’s top men and now he had a chance
to ingratiate himself to the leader himself.
After the meeting, Malone phoned his superiors and informed them of what he had learned and
his contact with Capone.
During his conversations with gang members Malone was able to gather information that
would allow the feds to trace the signatures on bank checks back to the mobsters.
This would directly connect the gangsters to tax evasion.
They were finally gaining evidence that would allow them to put Capone and his associates
behind bars.
The first two mobsters they went after were Frank Nitti and Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik.
The feds had enough on both of the mobsters to try them.
Guzik was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison.
Unfortunately, Nitti escaped and skipped town.
But Malone wasn’t about to let the mobster get away.
He used Nitti’s wife as a way to locate the escaped gangster.
Malone followed her around the city in his car, and eventually she left town and led
him to an apartment building in Berwyn, Illinois.
When the feds raided the apartment they found Nitti and arrested him.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion.
Malone was slowly dismantling Capone’s organization, but the feds needed to catch the mob boss
to end his reign of terror.
Malone finally gathered enough information by remaining close to Capone and his men,
and the mob boss was eventually indicted on tax charges.
His bail was set at $50,000, which he easily made, and when he returned to the Lexington,
Malone was waiting for him so he could gather more intelligence.
Everyone already knew Capone would make bail, but by letting him go and gathering more intel,
they were able to pin more crimes on the mobster.
Malone waited patiently and listened intently to Capone as he ranted about how he was going
to get out of the charges.
Capone’s plan was to bribe and fix the jury in his favor.
Malone reported this to his bosses, who along with the judge, created a new list of jurors
who had not been reached by the mob yet.
When Capone realized what had happened he took more drastic measures.
Malone overheard Capone’s new scheme to hire gunmen from New York to assassinate four
federal officials in Chicago, including one of Malone’s superiors.
The feds ramped up their safety measures to ensure everyone on the list was protected.
When Capone received word that the targets were all but unreachable, he told the gunmen
to head back to New York.
The mobster now had no other choice but to appear in court and be tried without any interference
from the mob.
Capone tried to make a plea bargain with the judge, but he would have none of it.
Everyone in the city was tired of Capone’s bloody reign and wanted it to be brought to
an end.
The trial started in October of 1931.
Four days after the proceedings began, Malone finally revealed that he was undercover so
he could appear in court later in the trial.
News quickly reached Capone about who had infiltrated his organization and given him
up to the feds.
Needless to say, Capone was furious and wanted revenge.
Malone received word that Phil D’Andrea, one of Capone’s bodyguards, planned to bring
a gun to the courthouse to kill anyone who would testify against his boss.
But Malone was ready.
He and another agent frisked and disarmed D’Andrea as he entered the courthouse.
He was immediately arrested.
The trial continued as planned and the jury found Capone guilty of 22 criminal counts.
He was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison with a $50,000 fine.
This was all on top of the $215,000 in interest due on back taxes he had never paid.
Capone spent seven years, six months, and fifteen days in prison before he was released.
He paid back all of the fines and taxes.
The mobster was suffering from syphilis, and at the time there was no treatment.
Once he was released from prison he was admitted to Baltimore hospital for brain surgery.
After his stay at the hospital he went to his Florida home on Palm Island in Biscayne
Bay near Miami where he eventually passed away from a stroke and pneumonia on January
25, 1947.
Malone on the other hand continued his career as an undercover agent.
Only months after the arrest and sentencing of Capone, Malone aided in the capture and
conviction of Bruno Hauptman.
Hauptman had kidnapped the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
The team Malone was on discovered Bruno Hauptman with marked currency that they had put in
with the ransom money.
This proved he had kidnapped Lindbergh’s son.
Less than a year later Malone helped the feds arrest gangster Waxey Gordon on tax evasion
charges.
Malone tracked down Gordon to a cottage in the Catskill Mountains where he was arrested
and then sentenced.
Malone went on to bring down several more gangsters for tax chargers over the next several
years.
His final undercover operation was in Miami Beach.
Malone was given a large amount of cash and a Cadillac by the Treasury Intelligence Unit
to disguise himself as a rich member of a syndicate there.
He uncovered details of an illegal abortion ring that reached across the United States,
which was eventually dismantled using his intelligence.
Malone was extremely good at what he did.
When he was undercover he was practically undetectable.
Michael Malone was vital to not only bringing down Al Capone and his associates, but a number
of other illegal enterprises.
Now check out “Crazy Italian Mafia Crimes.”
Or watch “Crazy True Stories From Undercover Cops.”