Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[PolackTony]

I don't know who sponsored Sam Cesario.

The last name the Costello brothers was Castelli. Matt Luzi told me. They came from Caccamo.

Frank Chiav. was originally with Big Jim Colosimo. Agoglia was a presumed Frankie Yale guy in Brooklyn. He was arrested with Al Capone for the Christmas day massacre of the Irish gang leaders in Brooklyn in 1925. In 1932 he was arrested with Paul Ricca, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky in Chicago.

I can further confirm that the surname was Castelli, based on documentary evidence.

[PolackTony]

Haven't had time to read through all the posts, but wtf is being hinted at in discussion of the guy and his "wife" showing up at Phil's wake? A New York guy in disguise?

Maybe I misremember the original statement, but my impression was that it could've been Giancana sneaking into town in disguise?

[B.]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

That's the same guy. Joseph Lawrence Costello. His conversation with Giancana was in 1962 and the report mentions that Costello was a major political figure in Chicago Heights (he tells Giancana this goes back to his father) who ran liquor distribution and testified for Accardo. Had no clue he committed suicide the following year.

So back to the drawing board. He would have been too young to have been involved in bootlegging himself in the 1920s/30s anyway. Interesting there might be a Battaglia tie, though.

It does open the question of who the Joseph Costello was who was arrested in 1931 with the other mafia figures. This couldn't have been the above Joe Costello. Assuming Puparo got the info right, it means there was another Joe Costello with the mafia in Chicago. If Joe Costello was named for his grandfather, it's possible Sam and Charles Costello both had sons named Joe.

[Ed]

Haven't had time to read through all the posts, but wtf is being hinted at in discussion of the guy and his "wife" showing up at Phil's wake? A New York guy in disguise?

Maybe I misremember the original statement, but my impression was that it could've been Giancana sneaking into town in disguise?

Yeah, you're right. The informant told the FBI that as Alderisio's wake was wrapping up, a man and woman showed up to pay their respects. The informant said the female looked dubious. He stated (although its redacted) that he had heard Sam Giancana had disguised his look so he could move around Chicago freely without being recognized. Remember, this was the early 70s when Giancana was persona non-grata in Chicago. Alderisio was a Giancana favourite so it made sense that he would want to show up. I think the informant's comments were tongue in cheek. I wouldn't read too much into them.

[Snakes]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

That's the same guy. Joseph Lawrence Costello. His conversation with Giancana was in 1962 and the report mentions that Costello was a major political figure in Chicago Heights (he tells Giancana this goes back to his father) who ran liquor distribution and testified for Accardo. Had no clue he committed suicide the following year.

So back to the drawing board. He would have been too young to have been involved in bootlegging himself in the 1920s/30s anyway. Interesting there might be a Battaglia tie, though.

It does open the question of who the Joseph Costello was who was arrested in 1931 with the other mafia figures. This couldn't have been the above Joe Costello. Assuming Puparo got the info right, it means there was another Joe Costello with the mafia in Chicago. If Joe Costello was named for his grandfather, it's possible Sam and Charles Costello both had sons named Joe.

I believe Joseph Costello was still alive in the early 70s. I think the one that killed himself was a different one. I believe his middle initial was "C" and not "L" and he was referenced in the present tense after 1964, indicating he was still alive. The following is a quote from a 1967 Congressional hearing on organized crime figures involved in legitimate businesses:

President Sam Macaluso [of the Kankakee Distributing Company] associates with Joseph Costello, a well known Chicago Heights hoodlum

There was also a Nick Costello who worked as Secretary of the Chicago Heights Distributing Company which sold spiritous liquors to Chicago Heights and Kankakee bars and taverns. I am unsure if he is related to Joseph but it sounds like he also had beef with LaPorte and went directly to Giancana because there are some memos detailing his displeasure at losing liquor licenses in the Heights area.

[Antiliar]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

That's the same guy. Joseph Lawrence Costello. His conversation with Giancana was in 1962 and the report mentions that Costello was a major political figure in Chicago Heights (he tells Giancana this goes back to his father) who ran liquor distribution and testified for Accardo. Had no clue he committed suicide the following year.

So back to the drawing board. He would have been too young to have been involved in bootlegging himself in the 1920s/30s anyway. Interesting there might be a Battaglia tie, though.

It does open the question of who the Joseph Costello was who was arrested in 1931 with the other mafia figures. This couldn't have been the above Joe Costello. Assuming Puparo got the info right, it means there was another Joe Costello with the mafia in Chicago. If Joe Costello was named for his grandfather, it's possible Sam and Charles Costello both had sons named Joe.

Joseph Lawrence Costello was the son of Vincenzo (Charley) Costello, brother of Sam Costello. Joe Costello married Vera Emery, the girl in the group photo with Al Capone, Louis Campagna, Frank LaPorte and others.

[PolackTony]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

That's the same guy. Joseph Lawrence Costello. His conversation with Giancana was in 1962 and the report mentions that Costello was a major political figure in Chicago Heights (he tells Giancana this goes back to his father) who ran liquor distribution and testified for Accardo. Had no clue he committed suicide the following year.

So back to the drawing board. He would have been too young to have been involved in bootlegging himself in the 1920s/30s anyway. Interesting there might be a Battaglia tie, though.

It does open the question of who the Joseph Costello was who was arrested in 1931 with the other mafia figures. This couldn't have been the above Joe Costello. Assuming Puparo got the info right, it means there was another Joe Costello with the mafia in Chicago. If Joe Costello was named for his grandfather, it's possible Sam and Charles Costello both had sons named Joe.

I believe Joseph Costello was still alive in the early 70s. I think the one that killed himself was a different one. I believe his middle initial was "C" and not "L" and he was referenced in the present tense after 1964, indicating he was still alive. The following is a quote from a 1967 Congressional hearing on organized crime figures involved in legitimate businesses:

President Sam Macaluso [of the Kankakee Distributing Company] associates with Joseph Costello, a well known Chicago Heights hoodlum

There was also a Nick Costello who worked as Secretary of the Chicago Heights Distributing Company which sold spiritous liquors to Chicago Heights and Kankakee bars and taverns. I am unsure if he is related to Joseph but it sounds like he also had beef with LaPorte and went directly to Giancana because there are some memos detailing his displeasure at losing liquor licenses in the Heights area.

The Joe Costello who killed himself in '63 (born 1919) was of course Vincenzo "Charley" Castelli's son. He had a cousin named Joseph Angelo Costello (born 1931), son of Salvatore "Sam" Castelli, who didn't die until 2013. Vincenzo and Salvatore also had a kid brother named Nick Costello (born 1909) who lived until 1981.

Interesting to also note that Salvatore Castelli's wife (and thus the mother of Joseph Angelo Costello) was a Maria Battaglia of Termini Imerese. Additionally, John Macaluso, who was the son of Salvatore and Vincenzo's sister Giuseppa Castelli, married a woman named Marie Battaglia whose father was also from Termini Imerese.

[PolackTony]

A "Joseph L. Costello" aged 43, killed himself in 1963. He was being investigated by the IRS for financial misdealing. He was described as an associate of the crime syndicate.

In 1960, Costello and his cousin John Macaluso, president of liquor distribution company, testified on behalf of Tony Accardo that he was their top beer salesman.

Costello's obituary says his sister was married to a "Joseph Battaglia."

That's the same guy. Joseph Lawrence Costello. His conversation with Giancana was in 1962 and the report mentions that Costello was a major political figure in Chicago Heights (he tells Giancana this goes back to his father) who ran liquor distribution and testified for Accardo. Had no clue he committed suicide the following year.

So back to the drawing board. He would have been too young to have been involved in bootlegging himself in the 1920s/30s anyway. Interesting there might be a Battaglia tie, though.

It does open the question of who the Joseph Costello was who was arrested in 1931 with the other mafia figures. This couldn't have been the above Joe Costello. Assuming Puparo got the info right, it means there was another Joe Costello with the mafia in Chicago. If Joe Costello was named for his grandfather, it's possible Sam and Charles Costello both had sons named Joe.

Joseph Lawrence Costello was the son of Vincenzo (Charley) Costello, brother of Sam Costello. Joe Costello married Vera Emery, the girl in the group photo with Al Capone, Louis Campagna, Frank LaPorte and others.

Yep. I saw your post after posting my own.
Here's a pic of Joseph Lawrence Costello if anyone's interested:

049A4B1B-F41B-43BD-B6DC-C3D21C6B1BE2.jpeg

[PolackTony]

Also, just to tie up another connection. John and Sam Macaluso were the sons of Domenico Macaluso and Giuseppa Castelli, both from Caccamo. Domenico Macaluso's mother was Giuseppina Guzzardo.

[B.]

There is an obit for a younger Joe Costello (b. ~1930) who died some years back. You can see from the write-up he's a relative, as he was involved in the same liquor businesses. Nothing else of interest, but I did notice he married a LoBue, a name connected to the Corleone mafia and also common in neighboring towns like Prizzi and Lercara Friddi. No reason to suspect this Joe Costello of being with the mafia but interesting if he married a woman of Sicilian heritage.

https://legacy.suntimes.com/obituaries/ ... =156591010

This is Joseph Angelo Costello, born in 1931 in Chicago Heights to Sam Costello and Mary Battaglia. Mary is listed as "widowed" by the 1940 census, which tells us this is the same Sam Costello killed in 1938.

Sam and Charles Costello had a younger brother named Nick who lived, along with his own wife and kid, with Sam Costello's widow circa 1940. Could this be the same Nick Costello referred to by Snakes?

So it is true both Sam and Charles had sons named Joe, with Charles' son being a made member. It could mean Nick Costello also had a son name Joe.

Still, all of these Joe Costellos are too young to be the one referred to in the Angelo Caruso case, assuming it's correct.

[PolackTony]

There is an obit for a younger Joe Costello (b. ~1930) who died some years back. You can see from the write-up he's a relative, as he was involved in the same liquor businesses. Nothing else of interest, but I did notice he married a LoBue, a name connected to the Corleone mafia and also common in neighboring towns like Prizzi and Lercara Friddi. No reason to suspect this Joe Costello of being with the mafia but interesting if he married a woman of Sicilian heritage.

https://legacy.suntimes.com/obituaries/ ... =156591010

This is Joseph Angelo Costello, born in 1931 in Chicago Heights to Sam Costello and Mary Battaglia. Mary is listed as "widowed" by the 1940 census, which tells us this is the same Sam Costello killed in 1938.

Sam and Charles Costello had a younger brother named Nick who lived, along with his own wife and kid, with Sam Costello's widow circa 1940. Could this be the same Nick Costello referred to by Snakes?

So it is true both Sam and Charles had sons named Joe, with Charles' son being a made member. It could mean Nick Costello also had a son name Joe.

Still, all of these Joe Costellos are too young to be the one referred to in the Angelo Caruso case, assuming it's correct.

There were even more Joe Costellos. Vincenzo and Salvatore's older brother Francesco Castelli also had a son named Joseph Louis Costello (born 1917) who died in 1932. And then the Castelli brothers also had another brother named Josep who died (killed?) in 1923. So neither of these guys could be the Joseph from the Caruso arrest.

Nick Castelli didn't seem to have a son named Joseph (though he did marry an Angela Battaglia!).

[B.]

Something else that might rule out the Costellos once and for all:

- Joseph Angelo Costello's birth record says his father Sam was born in Donaldson, Louisiana. It says his mother Mary Battaglia was born in Blue Island, Illinois.

If this record is accurate, Sam Costello wasn't born in Sicily. Not sure about his brother. That would rule them out based on the informant's info, unless he mistakenly believed they were both born in Sicily or if the family returned to Sicily after New Orleans, then came to the US again. A lot of "what ifs".

Their family was definitely from Caccamo, though, and there was a Caccamesi element in the early New Orleans mafia, with future Pittsburgh boss Stefano Monastero's father Pietro being one of the men lynched in the 1890s. I suspect the Chicago Heights Caccamesi had ties to the other Caccamesi in the US at the time.

- Phil Piazza and Joe Martino from Caccamo were leaders of Chicago Heights around the same period that their Caccamesi paesans Stefano Monastero and Nicasio Landolina were boss and underboss of Pittsburgh. Phil Piazza's wife was a Landolina and he traveled to the US with a Landolina. Records indicate Piazza had a brother-in-law named Nicasio Landolina but it doesn't appear to be the one in Pittsburgh.

- A Sam Monastero/Monistero was killed in Chicago in 1930, allegedly an Aiello ally. Can't determine if he's from Caccamo like the other Monasteros, but Stefano did have a brother named Salvatore. Wouldn't be surprised if Sam Monastero was from Caccamo and connected to the others in some way.

- Early Philly boss George Catania was also from Caccamo and though he was no longer boss, he was murdered in 1928. I find it suspicious how he was killed seemingly out of nowhere around the same period his compaesani were being murdered in Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Might be getting too far into the weeds here, away from identifying the Chicago informant, but just looking into the Costellos' potential connections since they came up.

[PolackTony]

Just to throw another potential name on the ring, what about Sam Macaluso as a potential ID for the informant? He was involved in the liquor racket (not heavy work), had tons of family in the mob, had cousins who changed their name. Plus was born 1914 and lived until 1989.

[PolackTony]

Something else that might rule out the Costellos once and for all:

- Joseph Angelo Costello's birth record says his father Sam was born in Donaldson, Louisiana. It says his mother Mary Battaglia was born in Blue Island, Illinois.

If this record is accurate, Sam Costello wasn't born in Sicily. Not sure about his brother. That would rule them out based on the informant's info, unless he mistakenly believed they were both born in Sicily or if the family returned to Sicily after New Orleans, then came to the US again. A lot of "what ifs".

Their family was definitely from Caccamo, though, and there was a Caccamesi element in the early New Orleans mafia, with future Pittsburgh boss Stefano Monastero's father Pietro being one of the men lynched in the 1890s. I suspect the Chicago Heights Caccamesi had ties to the other Caccamesi in the US at the time.

- Phil Piazza and Joe Martino from Caccamo were leaders of Chicago Heights around the same period that their Caccamesi paesans Stefano Monastero and Nicasio Landolina were boss and underboss of Pittsburgh. Phil Piazza's wife was a Landolina and he traveled to the US with a Landolina. Records indicate Piazza had a brother-in-law named Nicasio Landolina but it doesn't appear to be the one in Pittsburgh.

- A Sam Monastero/Monistero was killed in Chicago in 1930, allegedly an Aiello ally. Can't determine if he's from Caccamo like the other Monasteros, but Stefano did have a brother named Salvatore. Wouldn't be surprised if Sam Monastero was from Caccamo and connected to the others in some way.

- Early Philly boss George Catania was also from Caccamo and though he was no longer boss, he was murdered in 1928. I find it suspicious how he was killed seemingly out of nowhere around the same period his compaesani were being murdered in Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Might be getting too far into the weeds here, away from identifying the Chicago informant, but just looking into the Costellos' potential connections since they came up.

You're right about both Salvatore Castelli and Mary Battaglia, confirmed they were both born in the US from multiple documents. Vincenzo Castelli was born in Sicily though arrived in the US as a young child.

[B.]

If nothing else, guys like Joe L Costello and the informant both open up the possibility of more low-key second-generation members sneaking by in the organization earlier on. A lot of what we know about earlier Chicago is due to the "infamy" of certain figures, so these other types of guys may have gone unnoticed.

Joe Costello's membership may have gone unconfirmed without the one Giancana transcript, so can't rule out the possibility that others from that circle were made.

As far as ID'ing the informant goes, I think we're better off working from a list of established members of Sicilian heritage, but here are the names of Chicago figures I have for Caccamo, just to exhaust the possibilities if nothing else:

Caccamo (Palermo)
Vincenzo "Charles Costello" Castelli
Salvatore "Sam Costello" Castelli
Salvatore "Sam" Geraci
Joseph Guzzino
Giuseppe "Joe" Martino
Filippo "Phil" Piazza
Giovanni "John" Piazza
Pietro Zeranti
Sebastiano Zeranti

- The Guzzinos, Zerantis, and Geracis of Caccamo are relatives.

--

Was it well-established that Leo Manfredi was a member? I know he was later murdered, but the informant confirms Manfredi was a member. Curious what the Chicago experts think of some of the names he says were made members. Most are well-known confirmed figures but I'd be interested if any of you found someone new or surprising, even if it was just confirmation of a particular name.

EDIT: I see Manfredi shows up on the earlier 1960s lists.

Where these member informants are really worth their weight in gold is when it comes to identifying members, especially in families without many inside sources.