[1] Castellano dropped out of school in the eighth grade to learn butchering and collecting numbers game receipts, both from his father.

Refusing to answer grand jury questions about the meeting, Castellano spent a year in prison on contempt charges.

Castellano used intimidation tactics to force his customers, which included supermarket chains Key Food and Waldbaum's, to buy Dial's products.

[1] As Castellano became more powerful in the Gambino family, he started to make large amounts of money from concrete in the construction industry.

[12][13] Castellano also supervised Gambino control of Teamsters Union Local Chapter 282, which provided workers to pour concrete at all major building projects in New York and Long Island.

In 2004, court documents revealed that Joseph Massino, a government witness and former boss of the Bonanno crime family, admitted to murdering Borelli as a favor to Castellano.

Castellano arranged for Dellacroce to remain as underboss while directly running traditional mob activities such as extortion, robbery and loansharking.

[21] In February 1978, Castellano made an agreement between the Gambino family and the Westies, an Irish-American gang from Hell's Kitchen.

[22] Castellano also forged an alliance with the Cherry Hill Gambinos, a group of Sicilian heroin importers and distributors in New Jersey, also for use as gunmen.

Designed to resemble the White House in Washington, D.C., the mansion featured Carrara marble, an Olympic-size swimming pool and an English garden.

[26] Castellano became a recluse and rarely ventured outside the mansion, requiring his capos to visit the residence to give information and receive orders.

Waiting until he went on vacation to Florida, agents drugged his watchdogs, disabled his security system, and planted devices in the dining and living rooms.

[35] On March 30, 1984, Castellano was indicted on federal racketeering charges, as well as extortion, drug trafficking, theft, prostitution and the murders of Eppolito and DeMeo.

On February 25 he was one of many mob bosses arrested on charges of racketeering, which was to result in the Mafia Commission Trial;[37] he was released on $3 million bail.

[38] On July 1 he was indicted on loansharking charges and with tax evasion for not reporting the profits from an illegal racket,[39] and pleaded not guilty.

[40] On November 4, in a testimony from car thief Vito Arena, Castellano was named the head of the stolen-car ring that employed him, as well as having been connected to five murders.

[47] On Monday, December 16, 1985, Bilotti drove Castellano to the prearranged early evening meeting at Sparks Steak House.

[48] A hit team (consisting of Salvatore Scala, Edward Lino and John Carneglia) waited near the restaurant entrance; positioned down the street were backup shooters Ruggiero, Dominick Pizzonia and Tony Rampino.

On April 13, 1986, a car bomb meant for Gotti exploded outside a Bensonhurst social club, but the only casualty was Frank DeCicco.

[63][64] On April 2, 1992, with the help of Gravano becoming a government witness, Gotti was convicted of numerous racketeering charges, including the 1985 Castellano murder.