Frank Costello, nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld, " is one of the first and most influential mafiosi in the United States of America, who laid the foundation for many criminal traditions of the modern world.
Biography
Frank Costello (at the birth of Francesco Castilla) was born back in 1891 on January 26 in the small village of Cassano allo Jonio, located in southern Italy. At the age of four, he moved with his family to the USA to his father, who had a small trading shop in America.
From early childhood, this child was a bully, and his first brother was persuaded by his older brother Edward. Already at the age of 13, he joined a local street gang and began to commit minor crimes, then he began to call himself Frankie. Several times he was attracted for robberies and robberies, but was never imprisoned due to lack of evidence.
In 1915, he nevertheless received a sentence for illegal possession of weapons; he was imprisoned for 10 months. After leaving prison, Frank firmly decided to engage in petty street crimes and tackle more serious matters. Since that time, Costello liked to repeat that he never carried weapons with him again. The next time he faced justice only after 37 years.
Crime "career"
After the liberation, the future "Prime Minister" joined the group of Ciro Terranova. In the gang, he meets Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, this guy was well known in the criminal world. They immediately found a common language, became friends and business partners. Charlie and Frank quickly overgrown with colleagues in the workshop and practically put together their own, very cruel gang. The formed group began to engage in robbery, robbery, extortion and the organization of gambling. Frankie had a passion for games and therefore paid special attention to them.
In 1920, the Prohibition Act was introduced in the United States, which provoked a great wave of bootlegging (moonshining). Newly made partners could not get past the profitable business. In 1922, the company, led by Costello, joined the Sicilian Mafia, and in 1924 they began to collaborate with the Irish, they were engaged in bootlegging together and performed one of the largest alcohol operations called Combine. A large network was established for the production, transportation and sale of illegal alcohol.
Having successfully established a dangerous but very profitable business in those years, Costello did not forget about his "first love" - he continued to engage in gambling and began to actively develop and promote them in the United States. In addition to illegal traffic in alcohol, casinos and sweepstakes, Costello also had a completely legal business.
In general, always elegantly dressed and neat, he did not create the impression of an inveterate gangster. Thanks to his image of a successful and law-abiding businessman, he was able to establish contact with local authorities and the police, for which he received his nickname "Prime Minister of the Underworld." Costello was not a supporter of radical methods and often acted as a negotiator, representing the interests of his clan.
By the end of the 1920s, a real war broke out between the Sicilians and the Irish. Costello and Luciano understood that this was very harmful to business and decided to end this war. The partners were formally in the Masseria camp, but they decided to end the massacre by eliminating their boss. In the spring of 1931, Masseria was killed, but almost immediately after his death, the Irish leader Maranzano announced that he was now “the boss of all the bosses” and then the young but daring Costello and Luciano decided to get rid of him as well. By the end of 1931, both bosses were dead, and Luciano led the Sicilian clan.
After the criminal war, Costello again returned to the gambling business, which began to bring the greatest profit. In 1936, the leader of the clan Luciano was sent to prison for organizing prostitution, and he had to put Vito Genovese in his place. A little later, he was accused of murder, but thanks to the support of Benito Mussolini, the bandit was able to escape justice and was forced to return to Italy.
This time Frank Costello became the acting mafia boss. Thanks to his connections, he quickly established himself as an effective leader, and at the same time was able to get Luciano out of prison, but he also had to leave the States. This event finally approved Costello as a boss.
Attempt and death
In the mid-40s, the Genovese case was closed, and he decided to return to the United States and pick up his own, but he was assigned only the position of one of the deputies. This categorically did not suit Vito, and he began to have hatred for Costello, and later he planned the physical elimination of the boss. In 1956, a Genovese mercenary shot Costello with the words: “This is for you, Frankie, ” but the boss of the Sicilian mafia survived the assassination attempt. Having finally recovered from his wounds, he realized that Genovese would not stop and decided to retire from his family affairs.
Despite the complete cessation of his activities in the clan, he retained profit from gambling, so he was located in the penthouse of one of the hotels in Manhattan. Sometimes he met with former colleagues, advised on business issues. In 1973, at the age of 82, he died of a heart attack.
