Al Capone: Chicago's Most Infamous Mob Boss

In June of 1930, Wilson got approval from the eccentric publisher of the Chicago Tribune to question one of his reporters. Jake Lingle was a friend of Al Capone's who flaunted the relationship.� Bergreen believed that Lingle wanted more than the profitable connection he had to the mob.� "His influence made him feel invulnerable when in fact his position was extremely vulnerable.� Acting as a double agent or even a triple agent was too thrilling to resist.� Not satisfied with playing this extremely tricky role, he agreed to inform on Capone for the federal government."�

Lingle's appointment was June 10, but he got a bullet in the back of his skull the day before.�

The uproar was deafening.� Capone rode it all out at his home in Miami Beach.� When asked about Lingle, Capone said, "newspapers and newspapermen should be busy suppressing rackets and not supporting them.� It does not become me of all persons to say that, but I believe it."

Meanwhile, Irey's Mike "De Angelo" checked himself into the Lexington Hotel, dressed himself in flashy expensive clothing and hung around the hotel bar, quietly reading the newspapers.� Eventually the Capone soldiers struck up a conversation with him and started to ask him questions about his background.

"We want the McCoy about you," one of the gangsters told him.� "You look like maybe you're on the lam and might be open to a proposition --and how do you know, we might have something for you."

De Angelo played along: "matter of fact, I am open for something, but it's got to be good.� If you want it straight, why I come out here in the first place is I didn't know but what maybe I could tie in with the Big Boy."

The gangster told him they had to do some checking first, but to hang around for a few days and they'd give him an answer.� De Angelo hoped he hadn't screwed up any of his fabricated identity or he would be a dead man.� A few days later, he was invited to meet with the mob and Capone himself at a big party.� Fully aware that Capone would wine and dine a traitor and beat him to death with a baseball bat,� De Angelo went to the party with trepidation.� Fortunately, Irey's thoroughness in crafting his agent's background paid off handsomely.� De Angelo was made a croupier in one of Capone's Cicero gambling joints.

Just before Ralph Capone's trial, De Angelo found out that the mob was going to focus on the government's witnesses.� It was good intelligence because Irey arranged for extra protection of the government witnesses.� The result was a guilty verdict for Ralph and no damage to government witnesses.

A few months later, De Angelo was joined by Graziano, who got a job checking on Capone's beer deliveries.� Just before Christmas, they uncovered a plot on Wilson's life and caught it just in time.� Now that the Capone organization knew about Wilson, Irey wanted to reassign him, but Wilson wouldn't have it.� This attempt on his life made him all the more determined to get Capone.