Final answer:
Al Capone entered the gang life through familial criminal connections, building an extensive and lucrative crime syndicate during Prohibition that included bootlegging and other illegal activities. His power both corrupted local law enforcement and endeared him to some as a benefactor to the needy, finally resulting in his imprisonment on tax evasion charges.
Step-by-step explanation:
Al Capone was introduced to gang life through his family's criminal connections. During Prohibition, criminal activities such as bootlegging alcohol became exceedingly profitable. Capone ran an extensive bootlegging and criminal operation known as the Chicago Outfit or Chicago mafia. By 1927, his organization was involved in various illegal activities like bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, and even murder, earning him over $100 million annually.
Many local police officers and the community were influenced by Capone's wealth and power, with some on his payroll and others seeing him as a Robin Hood figure due to his funding of soup kitchens during the Great Depression. Despite his criminal empire, Capone was ultimately convicted and imprisoned for tax evasion, including time in Alcatraz prison.
Capone's rise in the criminal world was not accidental; he had connections and the organizational skill to create a criminal empire that was hard for law enforcement to tackle directly, leading to his eventual downfall through tax evasion charges.