Nicholas Civella began his criminal career as a teenager in the Italian "North End" neighborhood of Kansas City.

Before he reached age 20, Civella had been arrested for auto theft, illegal gambling, robbery, and vagrancy.

Later, due to his acquaintance with Teamsters president Roy Lee Williams, Civella played an important role in controlling the Central States Pension Fund of the Teamsters Union and in the skimming of casino gambling profits in Las Vegas, Nevada.

During this period, Civella built relations with the Cosa Nostra families in St. Louis, Denver, Milwaukee, and California.

Civella replied that he "stopped in the men’s room," where he "was drawing dirty pictures on the wall."

Upon his death, his brother Carl "Cork" Civella became head of the Kansas City family.