The Tommy Karpeles Story

May 8, 1931. The special U.S. mail train, coming from Rock Island, is stopped by emergency flares on the tracks in Hillsdale, Illinois. Gangsters wearing Army gas masks lob tear gas grenades into the train; they shoot a postal clerk and make off with a million dollars in negotiable securities. 3 months later, ""Tough"" Tommy Karpeles, former big-time Chicago hoodlum, is arrested for complicity in the case; his 2 accomplices were not caught. With his previous record as an ex-con, who had done 5 years for robbery, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in the State Pen. Since crimes involving the U.S. Postal Service are a federal offense, Eliot Ness and his Untouchables are on the case. Ness thinks Karpeles is innocent; the thought that the real killer is on the loose bothers Ness, so he visits Karpeles in prison. Karpeles tells Ness he was nailed on a bum rap. Karpeles had 3 witnesses who testified he was at Mendy's bar that night; his daughter works there. Ness thinks it's odd

Un train postal est dévalisé et le spécialiste du genre est condamné, à tort, à la prison à vie après la mort d'un employé. Ness, convaincu de son innocence, dirige l'enquête qui le mène vers la fille du gangster emprisonné, une femme qui hait autant les flics que son père… L'ancien complice de ce dernier tire les ficelles mais le butin est difficile à négocier.

Ness disiente cuando un jurado condena al conocido criminal Tommy Karpeles por evidencia circunstancial.