Frank Costello
Frank Costello |
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Frank Costello, born Francesco Castiglia, or Castilla (January 26, 1891 - February 18, 1973) was an American gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and had political influence like no other La Cosa Nostra boss. Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld" he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia bosses in American history, eventually leading a criminal organization dubbed by law enforcement as the "Rolls Royce of organized crime", the Luciano crime family which came to be known as the Genovese crime family.
Early years
Frank Costello was born Francesco Castiglia in Lauropoli, Calabria, Italy in 1891. In 1895, at age 4, he boarded a ship to the United States with his mother and brother Edward. The family was eager to join their father who had immigrated to the United States several years earlier. Living in New York's East Harlem, Francesco's older brother Eddie introduced him to gang activities. By age 13, Francesco had become a member of a local gang and started using the name of Frankie. He continued to commit petty crimes, and went to jail for assault and robbery in 1908 and 1912. In 1915, at age 24, Frank again went to jail, 10 months for carrying a concealed weapon. Just before his 1915 prison sentence, Frank Castiglia married Lauretta Giegerman, a Jewish girl who was the sister of a close friend. After his release from prison, young Frank decided to stay out of prison and use his brains to get by in the underworld. Forgoing the use of violence as a road to success and wealth, Frank did not see the inside of a jail cell for the next 37 years.
Crime as a Business
After his release from prison in 1916, Frank Castiglia began an association with Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova, a powerful East Harlem mafioso . Terranova was the underboss of the Morello crime family of Manhattan and the leader of the 107th Street gang. Frank became the member of a gang that controlled gambling, extortion, loansharking, robbery and narcotics in Manhattan and the Bronx. His associates included well known mafiosi such as Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola, Joseph "Joe the Baker" Catania Jr. and Stefano "Steve" LaSalle. Frank became known for his smarts and toughness, always rising to the occasion when handed a job to do. While working for the Terranova gang, Castiglia met and then teamed up with Salvatore Lucania (aka Charles "Lucky" Luciano), the Sicilian leader of Manhattan's Lower East Side gang. The two Italians hit it off immediately. Together with other young Italians, such as Vito Genoveseand Gaetano Lucchese, and Jewish associates Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the gang became involved in robbery, theft, extortion, gambling and narcotics. The Lucania-Castiglia-Lansky alliance prospered and with the passage of Prohibition in 1919 , the gang went into bootlegging. The success of the young Italians let them branch out and make business deals with the leading Jewish and Irish criminals of the era, including Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer, Owney "The Killer" Madden and William "Big Bill" Dwyer. Jewish crime boss Arnold Rothstein became a mentor to Castiglia, Lucania, Lansky and Seigel while they conducted bootlegging business with Bronx beer baron Dutch Schultz. In 1922, Castiglia, Lucania and their closest Italian associates joined the Sicilian mafia crime family led by Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria a top Italian underworld boss. By 1924, Frank Castiglia had become a close associate of Hells Kitchen's Irish crime bosses Dwyer and Madden Frank became deeply involved in their rumrunning operations, known as "The Combine,". This move motivated Castiglia to change his last name to the more Irish sounding "Costello," while at the same time Salvatore Lucania adapted the name Charles "Lucky" Luciano.
In 1926, Combine boss Bill Dwyer was convicted of bribing a coast guard official and sentenced to 2 years in jail. After Dwyer was imprisoned, Frank Costello stepped up to take over the Combine's operations with Owney Madden. This caused friction between Madden and a top Dwyer lieutenant, Charles "Vannie" Higgins. Higgins, referred to as Brooklyn's "Last Irish Crime Boss," believed he should be running the Combine, not Costello. Thus, the "Manhattan Beer Wars" began between Higgins and Costello, Madden, and Dutch Schultz. At this particular time, Schultz was having problems with gangsters Jack "Legs" Diamond and Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll. With Higgins' help, these two hoodlums had begun to rival Schultz and his partners ins. Eventually, the Costello-Madden-Schultz alliance was destroyed by New York's underworld.
In spite of losing the gang war, Frank continued to be a very influential gangster throughout the 1920's. Frank kept close associates Luciano, Lansky and Seigel involved in most of his gambling rackets, which included punch cards, slot machines, bookmaking and floating casinos. Frank eventually became known as the "Prime Minister of the Underworld" for his cultivation of associations and business relationships with New York's criminals, politicians, businessmen, judges and police officials. As he followed the "Big Three" ideology of mixing crime, business and politics, Costello's underworld influence grew. His fellow gangsters considered Frank to be an important link between the Mafia and the politicians of Tammany Hall, New York's Democratic Party organization. This relationship gave Costello and his associates, including Luciano, the opportunity to buy the favors of politicians, judges, district attorneys, cops, city officials and whoever else they needed to bribe in order to freely run their criminal operations.
In 1927, Frank Costello, Charlie Luciano and former Chicago gangster, John "Johnny the Fox" Torrio organized a group of the East coast's leading rumrunners into a bootlegging operation that pooled their Canadian and European liquor sources, maximized profit, minimized overhead and gave them a big advantage over their competition. They became known as the "Big Seven Group", the group being the first concrete move in organizing the American underworld into a national crime syndicate. Also, from May 13-16, 1929 Frank Costello, Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Johnny Torrio, Meyer Lansky and Atlantic City and South Jersey crime boss, Enoch "Nucky" Johnston hosted a crime convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey which included the members of the "Big Seven Group" and the top crime leaders from across the United States representing their crime groups. This was considered the first true underworld meeting and the biggest step in forming a national crime syndicate to control criminal operations, dictate policy, enforce rules and have complete authority in the underworld across the United States. Old world mafia bosses, Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano were not invited as their ideology and underworld philosophy ran counter to what the Atlantic City delegates hoped to accomplish.
The Castellammarese War
By 1928, Frank Costello and Charlie Luciano were considered two young, ambitious and powerful gangsters on the rise, but an internal conflict in the Italian underworld looked to sidetrack Costello and his closest associates. Costello's and Luciano's immediate superior, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was coming into conflict with a recent arrival from Palermo, Sicily by the name of Salvatore Maranzano. Maranzano was originally from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily and when he arrived in New York in 1925 his access to money and manpower allowed him to quickly set up rumrunning, bootlegging, extortion and gambling operations that came into direct conflict with those of Costello's boss, Joe Masseria. On October 10, 1928, Joe Masseria eliminated what he considered his top rival for the coveted boss of bosses title, Brooklyn mafia boss, Salvatore "Tata" D'Aquila, but now he had the powerful and influential Salvatore Maranzano and his Castallammrese clan of mafiosi to deal with. Joe Masseria was becoming an underworld dictator with demands of absolute loyalty and obedience from the other 4 mafia families which operated in New York City. In 1930, Masseria demanded a $10,000 tribute from the leader of Maranzano's crime family and got it. The Castellammarese Clan leader, Nicola "Cola" Schiro fled New York in fear, leaving Salvatore Maranzano as the new leader. By 1931, as series of killings in Detroit, Chicago and New York involving Castellammarese clan members and associates caused Maranzano and his crime family to declare war against Joe Masseria and his allies, which meant Masseria's crime family which included Frank Costello and his associates, Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese and Joe Adonis, along with the second largest crime family, the former D'Aquila crime family which was now know as the Mineo crime family and included Costello associates, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia, Carlo Gambino and Frank Scalise. The Masseria faction was rivaled by the Castellamamrese clan of Salvatore Maranzano which included Joseph Bonanno and Stefano Magaddino, the Profaci crime family which included Joseph Profaci and Joseph Magliocco, along with former Masseria allies the Riena family which included Gaetano Riena, Gaetano Gagliano and Gaetano Lucchese
The Castellammarse war raged on between the Masseria and Maranzano factions for the better part of 2 years at which time the Italian underworld was involved in an internal war that was destroying the Prohibition era operations and the street rackets that the five New York families controlled along with the Irish and Jewish crime groups. The war cut into the profits and in some cases completely destroyed the underworld rackets of crime family members, if a solution to the war was not found soon the Italian crime families could be left on the fringe of New York's criminal underworld while the Jewish and Irish crime bosses became the dominant criminal powers in New York. The war and every thing the old world crime bosses stood for was counter productive to the aspirations of the Atlantic City delegates, mainly Frank Costello, Charlie Luciano and their group of "Young Turks". Frank Costello, Charlie Luciano, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis, Tommy Lucchese, Meyer Lansky and Benny Seigel stepped up and planned the end of the war and the beginning of the National Syndicate. On April 15, 1931, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was gunned down at Scarpato's restaurant in Coney Island by Luciano associates and gunmen, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Joe Adonis and Bugsy Seigel. Salvatore Maranzano briefly held the title of boss of bosses until September 10, 1931, when he was killed in his 9th floor Helmsley Building office in Manhattan by Jewish gunmen posing as IRS agents hired by Meyer Lansky and Charlie Luciano, the shooters allegedly included Schultz gang lieutenant, Abraham "Bo" Weinberg and Murder Inc. gunman, Samuel "Red" Levine.
Years as Consigliere
After the death of old world mafia bosses, Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano in 1931, Charles "Lucky" Luciano became the leader of the new Luciano crime family, Vito Genovese was made Under Boss and Frank Costello was made Capo, he quickly became one of their biggest earners. Frank Costello was now one of the top gangsters in New York and he quickly began to carve out a specific niche in the underworld for himself. Costello came to control the slot machine and bookmaking operations of the Luciano crime family along with associates Philip "Dandy Phil" Kastel and Frank Erickson. Frank Costello placed approximately 25,000 slot machines in the bars, restaurants, cafes, drug stores, gas stations and bus stops throughout New York city, but in 1934, mayor Fiorello LaGuardia confiscated thousands of Costello's slot machines and sent them off a barge and into the river. Frank Costello's next move was to accept Louisiana governor, Huey Long's proposal to allow Costello's slot machines into the state of Louisiana for 10% of the take. Frank Costello placed Phil Kastel as the overseer of the Louisiana slot operation along with New Orleans mafioso, Carlos "Little Man" Marcello who knew every place in New Orleans to place one of Costello's "one arm bandits". Frank Costello continued to bring in millions of dollars in profit from his slot machine and bookmaking operations, Costello and Frank Erickson, the overseer of Costello's bookmaking operations are credited with starting the layoff and odds systems used by bookies and gamblers all across North America.
In 1936, Luciano crime family boss, Charlie Luciano was convicted of running a prostitution ring and sent to Dannemora prison, known as Siberia in upstate New York for 30-50 years. He attempted to rule his crime family from prison with the help of Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky but, being so far removed from the streets of New York, he did the smart thing and named an acting boss. Luciano's first choice was Underboss, Vito Genovese, but by 1937 he was indicted for murder and fled to his hometown of Naples, Italy to avoid prosecution, ingratiating himself with Benito Mussolini and the Fascists by donating $250,000 from a suitcase filled with $750,000 Genovese took with him to Italy. Luciano then appointed Frank Costello acting boss.
Boss
The departure of Vito Genovese to Italy left Frank Costello in firm control of the Luciano crime family and with the help of his top capos, Joe Adonis, Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" Carfano and Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola the crime family ran smoothly and undeterred. The period in which Costello ran Luciano's crime family was a most profitable one, with rackets from coast to coast (slots in New Orleans with Carlos Marcello, gambling in Florida with Meyer Lansky, illegal race wires with Bugsy Siegel in L.A., national bookmaking with Frank Erikson) aside from running the family, and having more political strength than any mobster in the United States. Frank Costello was a popular and well liked boss, who shared the profits made by the crime family's operations and did not demand a large cut of his underlings criminal earnings as he was making millions a year from his rackets and legitimate investments which included real estate and stocks. He expanded the crime family's operations to include casinos in Las Vegas and Cuba, but one area Costello always stayed clear of throughout his criminal career was narcotics, he was a firm believer that the mafia did not need narcotics to make money unlike his associate Vito Genovese who was a known drug dealer throughout his criminal career.
Charlie Luciano allegedly helped the United States military in WWII by protecting the New York waterfront from sabotage through his control of the docks and he was alleged to have a hand in helping the Allied invasion of Sicily by contacting Sicilian mafia boss, Calogero "Don Calo" Vizzini and getting him to assist the allies during the invasion. For his assistance Luciano's prison sentence was commuted (it was said to be a frame up) and he was deported to Italy in 1946. Frank Costello was then became undisputed Boss of the Luciano crime family.
In the same year, former Luciano crime family Underboss, Vito Genovese was arrested in Naples, Italy for running a Black market network that sold American army surplus and extradited back to the United States to face his 1937 murder charge for ordering the death of Ferdinand "The Shadow" Boccia. Frank Costello allegedly helped Vito Genovese beat his charges and avoid prosecution by having the witness to the 1937 murder, Peter LaTempa poisoned while he was in protective custody awaiting the trial. Vito Genovese had been harboring ill feelings towards Frank Costello for roughly 10 years, since he fled to Italy in 1937, feeling he was the rightful heir to the Luciano crime family empire and not Costello who had led the crime family with Lucky Luciano's support for the last decade.
Genovese and Kefauver
Now that Vito Genovese was back in the United States and free from prosecution he began a campaign to regain the crime family leadership from Costello, the first method he used was to obligate crime family soldiers to his cause by lending them money or by doing them favors that would have to be returned at some point. The resentment Vito Genovese felt for Frank Costello was multiplied by the fact that upon his return from self-imposed exile he was no longer one of the top bosses in the crime family, he was now officially a caporegime, a street boss in charge of a decine or crew of soldiers, but being who he was, Genovese was accorded the respect of a "Don" and commanded the loyalty and respect of the blue collar faction of the crime family, the capos and street soldiers who committed most of the violent crimes such as extortion, hijacking, robbery, theft and murder. Frank Costello was a highly respected and popular crime family boss, who had the loyalty and support of the white collar faction of the crime family, the capos and soldiers who controlled such rackets as gambling, loansharking, construction, waste hauling, trucking, waterfront, garment center, labor and union operations, as well as the many legitimate investments the crime family controlled. Frank Costello's position as a Commission member and his popularity as a top boss kept him safe from any assassination attempt or power move by Vito Genovese until Genovese could rally enough support from the majority of Luciano crime family members as well as support from other Commission members. Vito Genovese was also persuaded from a direct attack of Costello by the fact that present Luciano crime family Underboss, Quarico "Willie Moore" Moretti was a staunch Costello ally and supporter who commanded a small army of soldiers in New Jersey and was also Costello's cousin.
From May 1950 - May 1951, the United States was held in awe by the Kefauver hearings and a parade of over 600 gangsters, pimps, bookies, politicians and shady lawyers who testified while being show cased on America's newest fascination, television. The hearings were called by a Special Committee of the United States Senate chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, who had been appointed to investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce."
Frank Costello had become a respected underworld figure who had always craved the respectability of high society, going as far as seeking the advice of a psychiatrist, but never truly achieving the legitimate respectability he wanted. During the Senate hearings, Frank Costello became the star attraction being billed as America's #1 gangster and the defacto leader of Tammany Hall, as the underworld grapevine had it, "Nobody in New York city can be made a judge without Costello's consent." Costello agreed to testify at the hearings and not take the Fifth Amendment as it was his right and being that all of the previous underworld figures to take the stand did so. The hearing's committee and television networks agreed not to broadcast Frank Costello's face, only his hands, as Costello nervously refused to answer certain questions and skirt others. When asked by the committee, "What have you done for your country Mr. Costello?", his reply, "Paid my tax!" Frank Costello found the 1950's a very trying decade, as he became the most famous gangster in America since Al Capone during the Senate hearings and began to experience added law enforcement and media scrutiny, but his biggest troubles began when his right hand man and loyal supporter, Willie Moretti was assassinated on Commission orders on October 4, 1951 in a New Jersey restaurant due to the fact that he was suffering from a case of syphilis that had spread to his brain and caused dementia and a loose tongue at the Kefauver hearings. Frank Costello had lost a most powerful ally and supporter in Willie Moretti and to add to his troubles Costello's walkout in the Senate hearings came back to haunt him when he was convicted and sentenced to jail for 18 months in August, 1952 on contempt of Senate charges. Costello was released after 14 months, in October, 1953 and by 1954, he was charged with tax evasion and sentenced to five years in jail, serving 11 months of his sentence before it was overturned on appeal. In 1956, he was once again convicted and sent to prison, being released in early 1957 on another appeal.
Assassination attempt
In 1956, a powerful member of the Luciano crime family, loyal to Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, chose voluntary deportation back to his hometown of Naples, Italy over a long jail sentence leaving him more vulnerable to an attempt by Vito Genovese to usurp Costello's leadership position within the crime family, but Costello had one more powerful ally and protector Genovese needed to deal with. Brooklyn waterfront boss, Albert Anastasia had taken over the second largest mafia crime family in the United States after the disappearance of Boss, Vincenzo "Vincent" Mangano and the murder of his brother and right hand man, Philip Mangano on April 14, 1951. Starting with the placement of Albert Anastasia on the Commission in 1951, the Liberal faction began to get stronger and by 1953, once Boss, Tommy Lucchese was added, the Conservative faction that controlled the Commission from 1936-53, was now being rivaled by the Costello-Anastasia-Luchese alliance. Vito Genovese took this opportunity of conflict within the Commission to approach Boss, Tommy Lucchese and Underboss, Carlo Gambino in a final bid to eliminate Frank Costello and his ally Albert Anastasia, leaving the leadership of the Luciano and Anastasia crime families open for Genovese and Gambino too assume control. Vito Genovese had patiently waited 10 years after his return to the United States from Italy to make his final move against Frank Costello, and shortly after Costello's release from prison in early 1957, an attempt was made on his life on the night of May 2, 1957, as he was walking to the elevator in the lobby of his Manhattan apartment building. Costello was shot in the head by Genovese driver and protege, Vincente "The Chin" Gigante, who accidentally warned Costello by saying "This is for you Frank!", before taking his shot. Frank Costello turned his head to see who had called his name and because of that common reaction to someone calling his name the gunman missed, the bullet entering Costello's scalp on the right side and traveling around his head, staying lodged over his left ear as he fell to the ground. Chin Gigante fled the scene thinking Costello was dead, but the bullet had done little more than leave a scalp wound at the entrance of the wound, causing some bleeding. Luciano crime family soldier, Vincent Gigante went on the lam and lost a great deal of weight from his 6'2, 300 pound frame to conceal his identity, but he later turned himself in to face trial hoping Costello would adhere to the mafia code of secrecy, "Omerta", during the trial, which Costello did allowing Gigante's acquittal. Vito Genovese ordered all Luciano crime family members loyal to him to show their support for Genovese's bid for leadership by attending an important meeting at his New Jersey mansion. All the crime family's capos except Costello loyalist Anthony Carfano show up at Genovese's home, he later paid for this insult to Genovese with his life when he was murdered on September 25, 1959. Even though his attempt on Costello had failed, Vito Genovese went on to appoint himself boss of the Luciano crime family and call for a national Commission meeting to discuss mafia affairs in New York and other important issues that needed to be immediately addressed. The Luciano crime family , the most powerful, influential and wealthy crime family in America was officially renamed the Genovese crime family.
After recovering from the assassination attempt, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese made peace before the ill-fated Apalachin meeting on November 14, 1957, Costello no longer wishing to be a crime family boss and voluntarily stepped down for Genovese. In return for Frank Costello's abdication of leadership and his retirement from high level Genovese crime family affairs he was given the rights to all of his gambling operations in Louisiana and Florida and his legitimate business interests as a retirement severance for giving up all interests in other Genovese crime family rackets and operations. Officially Costello was demoted to the rank of soldier within the crime family, but he was never looked at as less than a top level boss in the criminal organization he helped build, "La Cosa Nostra" or "This Thing of Ours."
Vito Genovese was still weary of the murderous Albert Anastasia, who was furious over the attempt made on the life of Frank Costello. Vito Genovese called upon his alliance with Lucchese crime family Boss, Tommy Lucchese and his close ally, Anastasia crime family Underboss, Carlo Gambino to eliminate his last obstacle to majority control of the New York mafia and Gambino's obstacle to becoming a crime family Boss and Commission member, Anastasia. Albert Anastasia, New York mafia Boss and the former chieftain of Murder, Inc. was shot and killed in the barber shop of the Park Sheraton Hotel on October 25, 1957 allegedly by Profaci crime family members, the Gallo brothers on orders of Carlo Gambino.
After Vito Genovese and Carlo Gambino took control of their crime families and began to recover from the publicity and law enforcement scrutiny from the ill-fated Apalachin meeting, it is alleged that Frank Costello, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Carlo Gambino and Meyer "The Brain" Lansky planned their revenge for the attempt on Costello's life and to eliminate Genovese as a top power in the mafia, allowing Gambino to become a rising power in the mafia, the successor to Charlie Luciano as the defacto boss of bosses, as Luciano had predicted. They accomplished this by framing Vito Genovese, Vincent Gigante, and others, including future Bonanno Family boss, Carmine Galante, in a drug bust in 1959, removing two obstacles in Carlo Gambino's way, Genovese and Galante. Vito Genovese was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison where he eventually died in 1969, while Carmine Galante was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in 1962, paroled in 1974, he was assassinated in 1979.
Retirement
Frank Costello would always be known as "The Prime Minister of the Underworld" and remain a high level mafia figure with power and influence in New York's mafia all through his retirement and remained busy throughout final years. La Cosa Nostra bosses such as Carlo Gambino and Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese still paid visits to Costello at the Waldorf Astoria penthouse in order to ask for advice and council on important mafia affairs. In 1973, at the age of 82, Frank Costello died of a heart attack at a Manhattan hospital.
As a testament to Costello's fame and influence in the American underworld, when Bonanno crime family boss and wanna be boss of bosses, Carmine Galante was paroled from prison in 1974, he ordered Frank Costello's burial site to be bombed, blowing off the bronze doors of the mausoleum, which served as an announcement of his return to the New York mafia scene.
In popular culture
- Costello has been portrayed in several movies including James Andronica in Gangster Wars (1981), Carmine Caridi in Bugsy (1991), Costas Mandylor in Mobsters (1991) and by Kirk Baltz in the television movie Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995).
- The character of Vito Corleone in The Godfather is supposedly based on Frank Costello and featured similar mannerisms (including a raspy voice) and political connections, as well as many events from his real life. (Like Costello, Don Corleone voices disapproval of the drug traffic, which he labels a "dirty business".) Marlon Brando apparently used tapes from the Kefauver hearings as the basis for his accent.
- Jack Nicholson plays a character with the same name in the 2006 film The Departed, although the character is fictional and unrelated to the real Costello (for example, Nicholson's character was an Irish mob boss in Boston while the original Frank Costello was an Italian mob boss from New York, the character Jack Nicholson plays is based on South Boston rackets chieftain James J. Bulger).
- Frank Costello is the godfather to ABC reporter and FBI Assistant Director for the Office of Public Affairs John Miller, whose father and Costello were close friends.
- Despite the common spelling of their public names, Frank Costello was no relation to actor Lou Costello, whose birth surname was Cristillo.
Reference
- Brennan, Bill. The Frank Costello Story. Derby, CT: Monarch Books Inc., 1962.
- Katz, Leonard. Uncle Frank: The Biography of Frank Costello. New York: Drake Publishers Inc., 1973.
- Wolf, George. Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld. New York: William Morrow & Company Inc., 1974.