Originally Posted By: ht2
Originally Posted By: HairyKnuckles
For what it´s worth, Costello was sentenced to a 10 month prison term back in 1915 for carrying a pistol. This doesn´t necessarily mean that he was a gunner, but apparently he was not totally unaccostomed to firearms.


Yeah, the Sullivan act was passed in 1911, requiring a permit for a concealed gun. I read that most ny citizens could not afford the $3 registration fee. I could be wrong but Costello seemed more on the white collar, business side of things. It's anyones guess what may have happened during prohibition and or a mob war.


From Kefauver Senate hearings:

Mr. Halley. What was your first occupation, the first business or occupation in which you engaged ?
Mr. Costello. I believe I worked in a piano factory, I told you.
Mr. Halley. Then I think after that, was it right after that that you were convicted on this gun charge ?
Mr. Costello. Yes, 1915, I believe.
Mr. Halley. After you were released from jail, what did you do then? Where did you work, or what occupation did you have?
Mr. Costello. Well, we were manufacturing— with a fellow named Horowitz, manufacturing kewpie dolls.
Mr. Halley. That was not a successful enterprise, was it ?
Mr. Costello. Well, we did all right with it. What do you call successful?




During prohibition, Costello was huge in alcohol distribution. I would think that all the Mafia bosses at the time craved his territory, which spanned from New Jersey to upstate NY. Even parts of Massachusetts and Hartford fell under his control. That may explain why particually the Genovese Family later inducted mobsters living in that area, many of them being partners with Costello early on. But during prohibition he survived by having Willy Moretti, a tough enforcer by his side.

And you´re right, Costello was def more white collar than blue. His huge earnings from prohibition, was invested in fully legit companies that did very well. I think I read in a wire tap transcription how angry Costello was with his psychriatrist Dr Richard Hoffman who had advised him to mingle with a better class of people. Costello angrily said that he had actually introduced Hoffman to an even better class of people, the ones in the political world.

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