by Ashley Ludwig

What would you do if you discovered your long lost uncle worked undercover in the take-down of mobster Al Capone? Laguna Beach’s own Dr. Marty Dolan learned of such a thing when he discovered crates of investigative papers in a crawlspace of his family’s New Jersey home. Those documents, shared with FOX Business Network in the series “Strange Inheritance with Jamie Colby” will premiere Monday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. Pacific.

“I didn’t know what (the papers) were about, because I was young when he passed away,” Dolan said. “He’d show up periodically to visit my grandmother. He had deep-set eyes. He had this fedora and overcoat, even in the summer.”

Dolan’s uncle was Mike Malone, a career Internal Revenue Service agent who passed away in 1960. His documents, case files and notes were lost to the dust in that attic until Dolan inherited them. After his initial bewilderment, and a lot of research, Dolan has had a hand in uncovering the truth behind some of the most famous cases in U.S. legal history including the take-down of Al Capone’s gang and the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping.

For 47 years, his uncle Mike Malone gave everything to the Treasury department. He lived an obscure double life, often undercover, but the notes and files he kept under the roof of the family house have added details never before known about criminal cases of the 1920s and 30s. Those files were put away until Dolan retired, when the research of his family legacy became his primary hobby.

With the help of the internet, Dolan learned that his uncle worked for the T-Men part of the U.S. Treasury Department, a crime fighting unit used once the Supreme Court declared income from illicit activity was taxable.

Dolan learned that his uncle worked undercover as a mob-boss named “Mike Lepito,” and was reported to have infiltrated Capone’s organization and even lived at Capone’s headquarters collecting evidence toward the infamous tax evasion sentence. According to the files, Malone helped take down Al Capone, as well as Waxey Gordon, Nucky Johnson–all of “Boardwalk Empire” fame.

Malone also helped to solve the Crime of the Century that was the 1930 kidnapping and murder of the 20-month old Lindbergh baby. Forensic accounting of the $50,000 ransom aided in the apprehension of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, found guilty of the crime and executed in 1936.

According to Strange Inheritance, Dolan’s inheritance is a “bonanza” to researchers.

Dolan is hoping that what he has in his possession will honor his uncle, whom he is attempting to have a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom given in his name.

Watch FOX Business Network “Strange Inheritance with Jamie Colby” Monday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. Pacific.

Thanks to Jody Troupe for bringing this to the It’s Interesting community.