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Top 10 Facts about Italian Gangster Frank Costello

Frank Costello, a notorious Italian-American organized crime figure, was the head of the Luciano crime syndicate. He was born Francesco Castiglia on January 26, 1891. Costello’s criminal empire was threatened by a failed assassination attempt masterminded by his rival, Vito Genovese, and executed by Vincent Gigante in 1957.

The episode resulted in Costello’s voluntary cession of leadership to Genovese and his subsequent retirement from the underworld. He passed away on February 18, 1973. In the article are the top ten facts about Italian Gangster Frank Costello

1. He was about five years when he was relocated to the United States

Frank Costello was born on January 26, 1891, in the hamlet of Lauropoli, located within the town of Cassano allo Ionio, situated in the province of Cosenza in the Calabrian region of Italy. His parents were Calogero Castiglia and Anna Coco. He had one sibling, Edward Castiglia.

In 1895, Costello, alongside his mother and brother, embarked on a transatlantic voyage to reunite with their father who had emigrated to East Harlem in New York City several years prior. Calogero Castiglia had established a modest Italian grocery store in the neighbourhood.

2. Was introduced to gang activities at thirteen

While Costello was still a young boy, his brother introduced him to gang activities. At thirteen he became a member of a local gang and started using the name, Frankie.

Costello committed petty crimes and went to jail for assault and robbery in 1908, 1912 and 1917. 1n 1918 he married Lauretta Gergerman, a Jewish woman who was the sister of a close friend. That same year Costello served ten months in prison for carrying a concealed weapon.

3. Allied with Luciano

When Costello was working for the Morello gang, he made an alliance with Charlie Luciano who was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the five points gang and was instrumental in developing the National Crime Syndicate.

The two Italians immediately became friends and partners. Several older members of Luciano’s mob family disapproved of this growing partnership. They were mostly old-school Mafiosi who were unwilling to work with anyone who was not Italian ans sceptical at best about working with non-silicans.

4. Was indicated on federal bootlegging charges

On November 19, 1926, Costello and Dwyer were indicted on federal bootlegging charges. They were accused f bribing two U.S Coast Guardsmen presumably so that they would not disturb the unloading of liquor from boats in the New York Harbor.

The largest boat in the combined fleet could carry 20,000 cases of liquor. In January 1927 the jury deadlocked on the bootlegging charges for Dwyer and Costello. In 1926, Dwyer was convicted of bribing a Coast Guard official and sentenced to two years in jail.

After Dwyer was imprisoned, Costello took over the Combine’s operations with Madden which caused friction between Madden and top Dwyer lieutenant Charles Higgins who believed he should have been running the combine instead of Costello.

5. Became one of the biggest earners for the Luciano family

Luciano became the leader of the new Luciano crime family with Genovese as underboss and Costello as consigliere. Costello quickly became one of the biggest earners for the Luciano family and began to carve his niche in the underworld.

He controlled the slot machine and the bookmarking operations for the family with associate Philip “Dandy Phil” Kastel. Costello placed approximately 25,000 slot machines in bars, restaurants, cafes, drugstores, gas stations and bus stops throughout New York.

In 1934, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia confiscated thousands of Costello’s slot machines, loaded them on a barge and dumped them into the river. Costello’s next move was to accept Louisiana governor Huey Long’s proposal to put slot machines throughout Louisiana for 10% of the take.

6. Appointed as acting boss for Luciano’s crime family

In 1936, Luciano was convicted of running a prostitution ring and sentenced to 30 to 50 years in state prison. He attempted to rule the crime family from prison with the help of Costello and Lansky but found it too complicated.

With Luciano’s imprisonment, Genovese became the acting boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1937 Genovese was indicted for a 1934 murder and fled to Italy to avoid prosecution. Luciano then appointed Costello as acting boss. His underboss was his cousin, Willy Moretti.

7. Portrayed in several movies

Costello has been portrayed in several movies including by actor Feodor Chaliapin who was a Russian Empire-born actor who appeared in many American and Italian films for example in My Brother Anastasia. James Andronica in Gangster Wars is an American crime film directed by Richard C. Sarafian and based on the original gangster telecast. Carmine Caridi in Bugsy Costas Mandylor in Mobsters and Kirk Baltz in the television movie Kingfish.

Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long is a 1995 television drama starring John Goodman and directed by Thomas Schlamme who is an American television director particularly known for his collaboration with Aaron Sorkin.The film originally aired on TNT and was nominated for two Emmy awards.

8. Was referenced in the Allen Ginsberg poem

Costello was referenced in the Allen Ginsberg poem “Hadda Be Playing on the Jukebox”. The “Hadda” of the poem is HaddaBrooks, the American pianist, vocalist and composer who was billed as “Queen of the Boogie”.

The line in the poem is written that: It had to be FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover and Frank Costello syndicate mouthpiece/ meeting in Central Park, New York weekends, reported Time magazine. The poem was later performed live by the band Rage Against the Machine which is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. The poem was in the album Live% Rare.

9. Featured in the film The Departed

The Departed is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang.

The film features an Irish mob boss named Frank Costello in present-day Boston. Nicholson’s character is related o the real-life Costello in the name only; the character was based on Boston mobster “Whitey” Bulger with the film plot based on Infernal Affairs.

10. He died from Acute Myocardial Infarction

Frank Costello suffered a cardiac arrest at his residence in Manhattan in the early days of February 1973, which led to his hospitalization at Doctors Hospital in the same city. Despite medical intervention, he succumbed to his ailment on February 18. A tranquil memorial ceremony was held at a funeral parlour in Manhattan, attended by approximately 50 attendees including relatives, acquaintances, and law enforcement representatives.

Costello was interred in a private sepulchre located within the St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst, Queens. However, in 1974, after the release from the incarceration of his rival Carmine Galante, it is alleged that Galante ordered the bombing of the entrance to Costello’s mausoleum.