There's a lot of truth in that. Ness truly was "untouchable" as a government agent during Prohibition in Chicago--he could not be bribed. But he was a jerk: a publicity hound who blabbed so much to the press about what he was doing--and when he was going to do it--that Capone had little difficulty in dodging his raids. And yes, he was a heavy drinker. He resigned from the federal gov't in 1935 and became police chief of Cleveland. But he had to resign in 1942 after he got involved in an auto accident while drunk. He served on the board of the Diebold Safe Co., but failed at that business and several others before dying of a heart attack in 1957.