Francesco Castiglia or Frank Costello as he was known was born in 1891 in the mountain village of Calabria, named Lauropoli, in Italy. His father had moved to the New York City in 1893 alone, where in East Harlem, he had set up a grocery shop and to save money for sending to his family. It was Edward, the elder brother of Frank who had the latter to get involved with petty crimes.
Initial criminal activities of Frank
Costello, at the small age of 14 had worn over his face a black handkerchief and robbed his landlady, who had recognized him. But being smart, he avoided arrest. But in 1908 and 1912, he got arrested for robbery and assault and somehow is known to have beaten both raps.
For carrying illegal firearms, he got sentenced for a year in prison in 1915 at the age of 24. The decade that followed, he got involved with numerous criminal activities, but for the next 37 years, he had never been imprisoned in a jail cell. He had sworn to himself of never carrying a gun after he was released from jail.
His relationship
On his release, he had met Loretta Geigerman, a Jewish woman and married her, something that was considered to be unusual for the Italian to marry someone outside the Catholic faith. Being different in his thought and approach, he had forged relationships with several Jewish gangsters, which included the well known Mafiosi of that time like Busy Siegel, Louie ‘Lepke’ Buchalter and Meyer Lansky. After marriage, he worked for ‘The Clutch Hand’ murderous Joe Morello. It was he along with Igazio Saietta ‘Lupo the Wolf’ responsible towards the extortion Black Hand racket.
He met Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano when working for Morello, a Sicilian running rackets within Little Italy, on Manhattan’s lower east side. Through him, he strengthened his relationship with mobsters like Tommy Lucchese, Vito Genovese, Siegel and Lansky. Together, they become involved heavily in armed robbery, extortion, burglaries, dealing drugs and gambling activities. With The Volstead Act made law in 1920, the prohibition era started. It is during this time that Costello along with his pals made it big, bringing illegal alcohol from Canada and even England. The entire operation was financed by Arnold Rothstein.
It was in 1973 that he breathed his last due to heart attack at the Manhattan hospital. He got buried in Queens St. Michael Cemetery.