Born: January 26, 1891
Died: February 18, 1973
AKA: Frank Saverio, Francisco Seriglia, Frank Stello

Frank Costello rose from a poor immigrant background to play a critical role in the formation of the national crime syndicate (association). A close associate of the mob’s top bosses, he mediated disagreements and earned a reputation as a “fixer” who could take care of any legal difficulties.

A youthful offender

Born Francesco Castiglia in Lauropoli, Calabria, in southwest Italy, Costello was the sixth child of a poor farmer. When he was four he moved with his family to New York’s East Harlem, an Italian slum plagued by street crime. His father opened a small grocery on East 108th Street. Costello quit school at the age of eleven to sell newspapers and run a crap game for kids. (Craps is a game in which the participants place bets on...