One of the most influential and powerful persons in the criminal world of the USA of the last century is Frank Costello. His biography is completely connected with the criminal world of the United States. The real name of the mafia boss was Francesco Castilla.
The beginning of criminal activity
Born in 1891 in Italy, Costello moved with his mother to the United States in 1895, where from an early age he got involved in crime. His brother Edward helped him in this. From the age of 13, Costello began to engage in petty crimes, joining a local gang. Then he began to be called Frankie. At 23, Frank Costello married the girl Loretta Gigerman, who was the sister of his good friend.
1915 was the year of his first imprisonment, then he was imprisoned for carrying weapons. However, after leaving prison, Frankie decided to engage in small street affairs, starting to engage in big business. According to him, after the first imprisonment, he never again carried weapons with him.
Acquaintance with the underworld
After his release, Frank joined the criminal gang, which is part of a gang of Morello brothers. These years have become fruitful for Costello in terms of acquiring friends and acquaintances from the underworld. So, he made the necessary connections with people such as Meer Lansky, Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Albert Anastasia, and others. Together they were engaged in robberies, robberies, bootlegging, extortion. However, Frankie was more inclined to the business related to gambling. Later, in 1922, Frank Costello and his acquaintance Charlie Luciano move into the family under the leadership of Joe Boss Masseria.
Costello establishes partnerships with leaders of other families and groups, including the Irish. Together with the latter, Frank Costello organizes a chain for the sale of alcohol banned at that time. Due to the fact that this chain provided for a full cycle, including the production of alcohol, its transportation and sale, the criminals received a very good income.
Castellammare War
A special role in the development of Frankie was played by the so-called Castellammar war. In those days, a conflict occurred between two significant families - Salvatore Maranzano and Joe Masseria. Frank Costello, together with Charlie Luciano, secretly conspires with Maranzano to eliminate his boss Masseria. When the latter is killed in a restaurant, the Masseria family passes under the control of Luciano.
However, Maranzano did not live up to the hopes of young gangsters, but on the contrary, began to pose a danger to them. For this reason, Luciano decided to remove him. Five months after the murder, Masseria Maranzano is killed in his office. Thus, the Castellammar war ended.
The end of the war led to the fact that at the head of the family stood Charlie Luciano, and Frank Costello became a concilier. Another war veteran, Vito Genovese, was placed under the boss. Frank continued his activities in gambling, which as a result began to generate huge income. Costello brought more money to the family more than others, slot machines and bookmaking became the source of millions of dollars.
Family management
In 1936, Luciano was charged with organizing brothels and taken into custody. Vito Genovese became the acting mafia boss, but after a year he is accused of murder, so Vito leaves the United States. The current boss of the family becomes Costello.
Mafia family during the time when it was led by Frank Costello, whose photo became recognizable in the United States, grew rich year after year. During this time, Frank was able to establish the necessary connections with politicians at all levels. At the same time, he positioned himself as a successful businessman - the mafiosi really had a number of legal enterprises. It should be noted that Costello was essentially not involved in drug trafficking.
After the deportation of Charlie Luciano from the country, Frank Costello became the undisputed boss of the family.
Retirement"
In the forties, Vito Genovese returned to the United States , to whom Costello offered the position of capo. Genovese didn’t like it very much, but he didn’t show it, but began to gather a team around him, ready to go with him against the current boss.
In 1952 and 1956, Frank Costello managed to go to jail twice, and after his release, in 1957, he was assassinated, ordered by Genovese. It so happened that Frankie recognized the shooter, he realized that this was the work of Vito, but did not take any retaliatory measures. On the contrary, Costello decided to retire, leaving his place to Genovese. Freed from managing his family, Frank Costello still received income from some of his gambling enterprises.
In 1973, the mafiosi died, the cause was a heart attack.
It is interesting that the hero Vito Corleone from the book “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, as well as from a later film, became a collective image. Despite this, many believe that it was Frank Costello who became the prototype of the character. The film about the life of Vito Corleone has some similarities with the history of Costello. It consists in the fact that both had great political ties, were engaged in gambling, did not tolerate drugs and their sale.