| |
| John Emilio Costa | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Aliases |
|
| Nationality |
Italian-American |
| Born | |
| Physical description | |
| Ethnicity |
Caucasian (Irish-Italian) |
| Height |
5'10" |
| Hair color |
Dark Brown |
| Eye color |
Light Brown |
| Skin color |
Olive |
| Portrayed By | |
| Familial and political information | |
| Known family |
Antony Costa (father) |
| Affiliations |
the Lupisellas(Made Member) |
| Miscellaneous information | |
John Costa is an Italian-American gangster whom in the late-90's served as an enforcer for the Lupisella crime family. He was reputed to have managed one of the most successful drug operations in Bohan. After getting released in
Biography[]
Early Life in Bohan[]
Life Before Crime[]
Growing up in Bohan
John, a third-generation {Italian-American grew up in the Little Italy of Bohan, a culturally Italian neighborhood in the Fortside section of the borough He had a relatively normal childhood, or as normal as any urban kid would have. He would play in the fire hydrants in the street to avoid the summer heat, play baseball in the little open area there was near Saint Arthur Avenue, hangout on the stoops of the local apartment buildings. He idolized his favourite baseball team the Liberty City Swingers and always wanted to go to Swinger Stadium but his father was too busy most of the time. He worked a 12-hour shift as a factory worker in Alderney, the only way he knew how to support his family. John kind of resented his father for not being there more often but what could be done? It's not like he was working, he was just a kid. John was known to turn a buck as a child though, he would often con kids out of money by trading them rare, albeit fake, baseball cards. He would also steal money from the local bullies who in turn stole their money from the older children. These were the first signs of John's foray into the world of crime, albeit on a small and charming scale. Still impressive for a young child though All in all, John's early childhood was a blissful one and he maintained his carefree spirit until one faithful day...
Neighborhood Idols
It was a little known fact that there was a club where the mobsters would go to eat and socialize. This place was called, The Leaning Tower, and was a hot spot in Bohan in the mid-80's. John and his buddies would always hangout outside of the establishment to try to catch glimpses of their heros. The mobsters of the Lupisella family that operated in the borough. John grew to Idolize a certain mobster in particular, his hero, Peter DiMeo. Pete "The Killer" DiMeo, was said to be the a capo in the Lupisella family, and he always had his boys with him day and night. Guys like Joseph "Handsome Joey" Bagetti, a nickname that was to have been made up by himself; Tommy "Bugeyes" Amuso, named so for the look he got when stressed, and many others. John and his friends would play across the street imitating the characteristics and mannerisms of their favoured gangsters. One day, while sitting on his stoop that was located two buildings down from The Leaning Tower, John witnessed the Murder of a Dominican drug dealer, that had been shot to death in broad daylight by DiMeo. Later that day, the police found John who was identified as a possible witness and brought him down tot he station. This eleven year old boy was forced to look at 7 or 8 guys from a lineup, amongst them was DiMeo. Now, John knew that he could have done the right thing, the thing that most people would have done, which was to tell the coppers it was DiMeo he saw. The thing you have to understand though, is that the worst thing to be in his neighborhood was a "rat"....
Under A Dragon's Wing
In the end, John didn't say anything, he didn't want to see Pete go to prison. DiMeo was grateful for this, and he begin to take a liking to the kid. He saw a bit of himself in the young boy, in the end a prodigy. He allowed the kid to work inside, The Leaning Tower. Although, kids weren't usually allowed in the place, DiMeo made an exception. He would allow John to work there, serving drinks, washing dishes and catering to the men. John continued to work there as a youth for couple of years, well into his teens. He began doing more stuff around the place like parking cars and the like. Making a hell of a lot of money doing so as well. The kind of cash that would rival even his fathers salary, of course he saved it all. Kept it all in a box under his bed every dollar, nickel, and dime. Although at that age he respected his father, John figured the working man was a sucker, why slave away all your life when there's so much out there prime for the taking. During his stint at the club, John would be introduced to the likes of some very powerful men in DiMeo's line of work. They were mostly men in the Lupisella family. By the age of 14, John had met more mafiosi than most of the average thug had in their whole life. He was even introduced to a few of the "rockstars" of the organization through DiMeo. The likes of capo Mark Lupisella, who was said to be the Don's nephew. He even had the pleasure once of seeing the legendary Sonny Onorato, famed Lupisella hitman, that once walked through the Leaning Tower's doors. When he saw these men with flashy jewelry, fast cars, expensive clothes, and they way they seemed to run everything around them and nobody told them otherwise, that's when John realized. He wanted to be like them, he wanted to be a gangster.....
A Death in the Family
When John was 15 years old there was an accident at the Alderney power plant where John's father worked for some 13 odd years. The explosion claimed the lives of 47 plant workers his father's amongst them. It was said to be a freak accident, but some have said there was some circumstantial evidence to support that it may have been deliberate. Although, Antony had no relations with any of the local crime figures, he was a respected within the community. Surprisingly, there were several mafiosi in attendance at this funeral, perhaps they were urge to attend by DiMeo. Shortly after his death, Colleen and DiMeo began dating, such a short amount of time after his death suggests that they may have been having an affair prior to the death of the elder Costa. Although troubled by this relationship, John eventually got over it. He came to realize DiMeo had been like a second father to him anyways, so what's the difference. He was sadly more of a father figure to John, than Antony was, due to his constant working. Years ago, DiMeo would take the child to Juankee Stadium and was known to give the child money from time to time. He also sponsored the family during their hard times by giving them large amounts of money, much to the dismay and embarrassment of Antony. It is unknown why Pete befriended the child like he did. Some have speculated this was due to his relations with Colleen Costa in John's early years,; or because DiMeo was in fact sterile and unable to have a child of his own, and John was the son he never had; or because DiMeo saw himself in the young boy. Perhaps it was all of these things. He would soon become more of a father to John than ever before, as DiMeo and Colleen were married in 1991, making DiMeo John's stepfather...
Left to Right: Francis Matteo, Harold Petrakis, John Costa, & Petrit "Pete" Dershaj: All members of a St. Arthur Avenue Boys. A youth gang that had been established since the early 70's
From Juvenile Delinquent to Button Man[]
Working for the Wiseguys
Since long before his father death and afterwards as well, from the age thirteen well into his late teens, John began doing less conventional work for the low-ranking mafiosi. in his early teens, he would often sell stolen merchandise on the street; like counterfeit watches, cigarettes, bootleg VHS tapes, and other schwag. He often came close to getting busted, but always managed to escape with his nose clean. It was petty fencing nothing to serious, it was good to use a kid for something like this because of the law that protected minors. Although it was unusual to have a kid like him taking orders from Lupisella associates. No one thought anything of it though, as he was "Pete's kid." He would deliver messages to other mobsters, as these guys didn't like using the phone, not even a cell phone. Paranoia was a common thing to have in these circles, it was also a good thing, kept you safe, protected. When he was about 16 he began delivering "packages" from the wiseguys to their buyers. Nothing too big, Pete ensured that his "boy" was safe and often had arrangements and also made sure there was a fair amount of trust between his men and the buyers. Colleen would break his balls if anything ever happened to her son and he knew that. DiMeo was very fond of the kid as well. For all intents and purposes he was his son too. He did this kind of menial work until he was about 18. Now that he was accountable for his own person, he was liable...
Shakedown Artist
Around mid-January of 1994, John began running guns for DiMeo and his crew, nothing big by anyone's standards just pistols and revolvers. He sold to pretty much anyone that was looking for a clean piece; businessman, local hoods, business owners looking for protection, By the summer of '94 he had amassed enough cash to fun a clandestine drug operation in northern Bohan. He hired some local hoods to move the product and connected with his old friends from high school Frank Matteo and Tony Lucadello. They'd sell to anyone, but they had standards. Of course, no kids no pregnant women and don't do it in "our neighborhood". Everything was going smoothly by the winter of 1996, Costa had nearly all of Bohan supplied with a steady flow of all sorts of drugs exclusively. He was selling moderate amounts of cocaine and a bit of heroin here and there but the real drug he invested in was molli; pure powdered MDMA. Aswell as manufacturing his own Ecstasy tablets. The Lupisellas always got a large cuts of the cocaine and heroin, with them beings the ones who supplied the boys with it. They didn't know much about the new craze ecstasy and never asked for a dime from those operations, they went largely unnoticed. John was a loyal though, and always sent a fair cut of the MDMA profits up through the DiMeo Crew to The Boss. He was well on his way to making his millions...
Left to Right: Pete DiMeo, Vincent Costa, Tony Lucadello with Franky Matteo in front. All being leading members of the Fortside Drug Crew.
Rags to Riches
By Early '97, Costa had a established a solidly functioning enterprise. Christened the Fortside Drug Crew, by local criminals in the know, it was the fastest growing drug cartel in Bohan. John rallied a few of his closest childhood friends; Tony Lucadello, his cousin Vincent Costa and former St. Arthur Avenue Boy, Francis Matteo to help him run his empire. They acted as the buffer between him and his other workers, whom John never cared to work with directly due to advise from DiMeo. These were namely the underlings spreading the Crew's product around. By that time was running a very profitable operation, so profitable some of the other families on "[{The Commissio" tried to weasel their way into his pockets, by extorting the entrepaneur. When that didn't work when they found out who he "was with" they tried to persuade him with a plethora of offers. These ranged from "making him" to the promise of profits and partnerships, but Johnny stayed loyal to DiMeo and his organization. "Why fuck up a good thing?", the Lupisellas protected him and he returned the favour by paying them their cut. It was equally beneficial, almost symbiotic. In roughly three years, John had gone from a hoodlum to and heir to one of the most profitable drug operations in Bohan. His tastes in the finer things in life began to reflect that. While still "the same kid from Bohan" he began dressing more conservatively, having been known to buy designer suits ranging from thousand dollars each. He enjoyed dining in ritzy places in Algonquin and was always seen with a beautiful women, all of which that could pass for models, with him. He felt like he had finally made it, that he was somebody. Although he was well respected in his own right,the real reason he was "untouchable" to the common man was because of the people he knew. He was DiMeo stepchild for Christ's sake, who would in their right mind dare to start trouble with a man like that. And he was a profitable kind of friend, "the Administration" deemed him pretty valuable. Everybody knew him and if they didn't they should have. He was the man to know, a real big shot. To be honest he liked the attention, But this kind of attention wasn't the kind of thing that could be enjoyed for long, as Johnny would soon find out....
Too Little, Too Late
FBI surveillance photo taken on the last day John ever saw DiMeo in person, when DiMeo was telling him he was to be made later in the week
In the spring of 1999, DiMeo finally got permission from the boss to make the aspiring wiseguy. Costa was now 23 years old, and while they didn't usually make guys this young, John was the exception. He had a somewhat clean record, a long history with the Lupisella family, always kept his mouth shut, and he was Pete's prodigy. What could go wrong. The ceremony was scheduled for a beautiful, Saturday afternoon according to weather reports. DiMeo wanted John to "make his bones" before the date. Lupisella associates aren't required to do this before being made, but it "looks better" to the Don if you do. So, John did what was asked of him, and promptly murdered a rival competitor, a Bernardo Leguizamo, who was manufacturing an selling narcotics in the Bohan area. It was a real smooth hit. He followed Leguizamo around that day and he waited till Bernardo went off to go get pissed at the local bar. When Bernardo left to go home, John followed him and waited until he attempted to get into his apartment complex. Leguizamo was in such a drunken stup he didn't hear John creep towards him. Like the predator John was, he swooped in behind him and delivered a bullet to his head with a silenced pistol. He quickly got into his car an sped away. It was the first time John had killed someone and to be honest he felt nauseous but it had to be done...it was business. In the days following the murder, John begin to notice a strange car tailing him at odd hours during the day. As well, as a similar looking car parked out front of his Studio apartment in Northern Dukes. Fearing the worst, he quickly put a stop on all business he was currently involved with, canceled meeting, ignored phonecalls, and lef the business up to his boys.It wasn't all for nothing, it turns out his suspicions were right...
The Long Arm of the Law[]
John struggling, while being detainted following a DEA raid
Arrest and Incarceration
He was arrested on July 27th, 1999 and charged with Possession of Narcotics with Intent to Sale as well as Manufacturing of an Illicit Substance. He was placed in county jail with a without bail. They knew they couldn't allow him to get back out for even the smallest amount of time do to his ties with local mafiosi. While at the station, they tried to make John snitch on his fellow criminals, but it seems he could not be bought. They bribed him with promise of release with all charges dropped for his testimony, teased him with the threat of hurting his family, they even tried to beat it out of him and all sorts of shit. John was a real trooper, in the end he simply wouldn't break Omerta, the worst thing in his mind was being a "rat." When it came down to the trial not much would stick to John, the District Attorney, simply had a lack of any concrete evidence. One of the factors was that the MDMA manufacturing lab had been "destroyed" It is believed that DiMeo sent his goons to destroy the lab. It is unknown whether this was done to help John or save his own ass. Although, there was no escaping the possession charges, he was sentenced to 10 years in the in prison and swiftly transferred Alderney State Correctional Facility. Now all he could do was wait....
Getting Out
After serving a 4 year bid in the pen. John was released on May 17, 2003 on good behaviour as somehow the parole board had cut him a deal. It seemed he was in a different world now. First thing he did when he got out make his way to "The Leaning Tower", presumably to see DiMeo as he owned the restaurant. He was shocked to not find him in the place he so often frequented, he did however track down ol' Joe Bagetti, whom informed him of what had happened while he had been away.
John in prison attire, shortly before being released into the general population.
His childhood idol and stepfather, Peter DiMeo, had been shot to death while sleeping by an unknown assailant. His body was found by Colleen in the early morning of March 7th, 2000. He appeared to be sleeping in his bed, when an intruder silently broke in and shot him at point blank range, Six to nine times. Joey to John that this was an unsanctioned hit and all families claimed no involvement. The authorities never found the hit man. The only thing he left behind was a 150 thousand dollar life insurance policy, to be granted to Colleen DiMeo. Apparently, while powerful old' DiMeo had been hitting hard times as of late and was relatively broke, as Joey claimed.
His mother fortunately, was still alive, but the stress of being widowed times in-a-row caused her to go off the deep end. She began using cocaine to combat her depression and unhappiness. She had been addicted to the drug for some short years, but already it showed some signs of having a permanent effect on the woman. Apparently, the excessive cocaine use caused her to lapse into a cocaine induced psychosis thereby triggering a recessive family trait. On Colleen's side of the family there have been relative known to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. It turns out the state, under her best interests, sent her to an asylum in Connecticut. He though about visiting her but realised he couldn't bare the thought of seeing her this way and would rather remember her as she was. As for John's sister at an early age she was scorned for asking about her brother, who had left the house when Rose was only 12. His mother had always told her daughter that John had abandoned the family, because she had known he was involved in the criminal lifestyle. Had she also known about DiMeo, She probably would have left him and this all would have been avoided..
As for his business, he came to find out that both Tony and Frankie had moved out West and that the business fell apart in his four year absence. So he was left fresh out of prison without a job, but at least he had a home. He tried to access his apartment which he bought several years ago, only to find out that it along with all of his other assets and bank accounts had been seized by the FBI. Apparently, the assets which were in DiMeo's name. This had to be done to avoid certain taxation issues. Turns out most of DiMeo's assets had been bought with dirty money that had not been properly laundered, due to an informant who used to launder Lupisella cash, the feds were tipped off to this. Therefore, under the statutes of the RICO act the FBI had the authority to seize all assets which had been bought with this dirty racket money. This also explains why DiMeo had left the family nearly nothing. In the end, Johnny was left with only the life insurance money from DiMeo's policy. He was frustrated to learn that it had been squandered away by his drug addicted mother, all the was left was 7 grand out of a 150k policy. He was back to where he started with a record and nothing to show for it...