Everything Mob - Frank Costello

Frank Costello




Frank Costello, mafia boss, 1935

Frank "the Prime Minister" Costello (born Francesco Castiglia; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American gangster and crime boss. Costello rose to the top of the United States underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States, and enjoyed political influence.

Nicknamed "The Prime Minister of the Underworld," he became one of the most powerful and influential mob bosses in American history, eventually leading the Luciano crime family (later called the Genovese crime family), one of the Five Families that operates in New York City.

Early years

Based on Italian birth records from the province of Cosenza, Costello was born Francesco Castiglia on 26 January 1891 in Lauropoli, a mountain village in the town of Cassano allo Ionio in the Cosenza province of the Calabria region of Italy. In 1895, he boarded a ship to the United States with his mother and his brother Edward in order to join their father, who had moved to New York's East Harlem several years earlier and opened a small neighborhood Italian grocery store.

While Costello was still a boy, his brother introduced him to gang activities. By age 13, Costello had become a member of a local gang and started using the name Frankie. Costello continued to commit petty crimes, and went to jail for assault and robbery in 1908, 1912 and 1917. In 1918, Costello married Lauretta Giegerman, a Jewish woman who was the sister of a close friend. That same year, Costello served ten months in jail for carrying a concealed weapon. After his release, Costello decided to avoid street rackets and use his brain to make money as a criminal. Forgoing the use of violence as a road to success and wealth, Costello claimed that he never again carried a gun. He would not return to jail for 37 years.