This month marks the 80th anniversary of Al Capone's conviction on five counts of federal tax evasion and his sentence to 11 years in prison. Decades have passed since Capone's famous perp walk at Dearborn Station, and yet the question still lingers: Who "got Capone"?

For years, Eliot Ness and his 10 "Untouchables" have been heralded as the legendary lawmen who brought down Capone and restored law and order to Prohibition-era Chicago. Recently, however, a chorus of Ness detractors has tried to hack away at his legend with all the finesse of a Prohibition agent taking an ax to one of Capone's whiskey barrels. Meanwhile, the role of the other Untouchables appeared to have been lost to history. My grandfather, Joe Leeson, was one of Ness' men. Contrary to recent criticism, the facts show that Ness and his agents deserve their place in history, for what they did and for what they still stand for today.

Filmmaker Ken Burns, promoting his new documentary, "Prohibition," recently said that Eliot Ness "is a PR invention." Burns' co-producer Lynn Novick added that "Eliot Ness had nothing to do with catching Al Capone." Burns and Novick follow a new line of critics, including author Jonathan Eig, who in his book "Get Capone" reduces Ness to "buzzing around like a fly, pestering the bootleggers." Contrary to this revisionist view of history, Ness and the Untouchables played a vital role in the battle against organized crime, crippling the Capone outfit's ability to operate and delivering an indictment against Capone on more than 5,000 Prohibition law violations.

The grip that the Capone outfit held on Chicago, its police and politicians was a national embarrassment. Tommy guns strafed buildings and tore up the streets in gangland-style shootouts and retaliatory drive-bys, which often resulted in the murders of bystanders. This rampant gun violence dramatically altered the public's willingness to tolerate mob rule. The tide had turned, and the federal government finally used its authority to step in and do something. The Justice Department called upon U.S. Attorney George E.Q. Johnson in Chicago, who went after Capone on two parallel tracks. He teamed up with Treasury Department chief Elmer Irey and IRS agent Frank Wilson to investigate Capone's finances for evidence of money laundering and tax evasion; and he enlisted Ness to put together a special team of agents to gather evidence of Prohibition violations and to cripple Capone's ability to operate. He needed agents who, unlike most law enforcement officers of the time, could not be bought or bribed. That band of agents became known as the Untouchables, a label that was first bestowed on them by a Chicago newspaper.

The Untouchables were handpicked from around the country by Ness for their incorruptibility and specialized law enforcement skills. My grandfather was selected for his ability to tail suspects in an automobile, and recently uncovered files document how he and his fellow Untouchables were personally summoned to Chicago by Johnson and Ness to help the Capone investigation. The Untouchables worked together for only two years during law enforcement careers that spanned decades. My grandfather served on a Navy destroyer in World War I and battled the Purple Gang in Detroit before joining Ness.

Being an agent during Prohibition was extremely dangerous work. None of the Untouchables was killed in action. However, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, between 1920 and 1933, 94 agents lost their lives in hostile actions ranging from gunshot wounds, to scalding in a boiling mash vat, to asphyxiation while raiding an indoor still. In one account relayed by my grandfather's partner Paul Robsky, a grenade (or "pineapple," as it was known then) was thrown through Leeson's apartment window while he was cooking chili. Life as a Prohibition agent could also be thankless. Agents spent months at a time away from home, traveling around the country to work on investigations. After Prohibition was repealed, many agents, including some of the Untouchables, were furloughed as the Treasury Department cut its budget and its force.

In early 1931, Leeson and fellow-Untouchable Sam Seager located a major Capone brewery by tracing a truckload of barrels from the saloon where they had been emptied, to a building where they were cleaned and finally back to the warehouse where they were brought for refilling. This discovery led to the Untouchables' first major raid and established their method for locating and shutting down Capone's breweries and distilleries. Ness and the Untouchables used a 10-ton truck, with a battering-ramlike device on the front bumper designed by my grandfather, to bust open the doors of Capone's warehouses.

The Untouchables' work damaged the Capone outfit's ability to carry on its illegal activities and ultimately led to the indictment of Capone on violations under the Volstead Act. That indictment was handed down by a grand jury one week after his indictment for tax evasion. Prohibition was extremely unpopular, and there was an enormous risk that jurors, who probably took a drink or two themselves, would be sympathetic toward a bootlegger defendant. On the other hand, no honest taxpayer liked a cheat, so Johnson took the tax case to trial and secured a conviction. After the verdict, not wanting to risk the gangster's release on appeal, Johnson re-indicted Capone on additional Prohibition violations as a security measure.

The Untouchables' work damaged the Capone outfit's ability to carry on its illegal activities and ultimately led to the indictment of Capone on violations under the Volstead Act. That indictment was handed down by a grand jury one week after his indictment for tax evasion. Prohibition was extremely unpopular, and there was an enormous risk that jurors, who probably took a drink or two themselves, would be sympathetic toward a bootlegger defendant. On the other hand, no honest taxpayer liked a cheat, so Johnson took the tax case to trial and secured a conviction. After the verdict, not wanting to risk the gangster's release on appeal, Johnson re-indicted Capone on additional Prohibition violations as a security measure.

Bernard V Cloonan