Word: costelloe
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...barons of the underworld. He became an intimate of Arnold Rothstein, the great gambler and criminal banker; he gained the esteem and affection of Tammany Swagman Jimmy Hines. When Al Capone and the other big men of gangland met in the famous Atlantic City peace conference of 1929, Frank Costello took a leading part in calling for cartels in the 'rackets instead of armed competition-a role which gained him the title of "The Prime Minister of the Underworld...
...Kastel & Costello. Long before prohibition was over Rumrunner Costello began transferring his interest and rum profits to safer fields. In 1928 he formed a lasting partnership with Dandy Phil Kastel, a dapper little enterpriser who had whetted 'his wits as manager of a Montreal restaurant and operator of a Manhattan bucket shop. Costello and Kastel formed the Tru-Mint Novelty Corp. and gave the enthusiastic New York public a chance to play slot machines. He told Kastel: "If a guy named Hershey could make all that dough on a 5? candy bar, maybe there's an angle here...
...Costello also "laid off" bets with big bookies and kept a finger in real estate. After repeal, with financial backing from William Helis, the "Golden Greek" (who demanded 20,000 cases of choice Scotch for security), Costello and Kastel bought control of Britain's Whiteley Distillery, producers of House of Lords and King's Ransom Scotch. The board of directors agreed to pay Costello ?5,000 ($24,400) a year simply for "frequenting first-class hotels and restaurants and asking to be supplied with the company's brands." But the slot machines were Costello's gold...
...machine a year, brought in an annual profit of $3,000,000. But in 1934. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia ordered the machines seized, personally banged up dozens of them with a sledge hammer while photographers recorded his prowess. He also called fellow Italian and longtime admirer Frank Costello a bum, a tinhorn gambler, and a punk. That was the end of Tru-Mint and of Costello's regard for the Little Flower...
Helpful Huey. It was not the end of the slot-machine king. Costello had cultivated Senator Huey Long of Louisiana, a man he suspected of having liberal views on certain types of financial matters. The friendship paid off. Within a few months, Huey had granted Costello and Kastel a concession to operate their slots in Louisiana, and a new river of nickels began jingling into their coffers...