Al Capone was a member of several young gangs

Alphonse Gabriel Capone, also known as "Scarface," was an American gangster and businessman who rose to prominence as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition era. His seven-year reign as a crime lord came to an end when he was sentenced to prison at the age of 33. Al Capone was a member of several young gangs, including the South Brooklyn Rippers, Forty Thieves Juniors, and James Street Boys. These gangs were not as serious as the ones most people associate Al Capone with; they were mostly known for shoplifting, vandalism, and other minor offenses. These gangs, particularly the connections he made in the James Street Boys gang, would serve as stepping stones for Al's criminal career.

Capone was born in New York City to Italian immigrant parents in 1899. As a teenager, he joined the Five Points Gang and worked as a bouncer in organized crime establishments such as brothels. He moved to Chicago in his early twenties and became a bodyguard and trusted factotum for Johnny Torrio, the head of a criminal syndicate that illegally supplied alcohol—the forerunner of the Outfit—and was politically protected through the Unione Siciliana. A feud with the North Side Gang played a role in Capone's rise and fall. Torrio stepped down after North Side gunmen nearly killed him, ceding control to Al Capone. Capone expanded his bootlegging business through increasingly violent means, but his mutually beneficial relationships with mayor William Hale Thompson and the city's police meant he appeared to be safe from authorities.