Castucci was a nephew of Boston bookmaker Arthur Ventola, who was close to the Patriarca crime family.
Castucci was a close associate of mobster Stephen Flemmi, a leader of the Winter Hill Gang and a secret FBI informant.
Castucci introduced Flemmi and mobster John Martorano to a major New York bookmaker when they were organizing Anthony Ciulla's race fixing scheme.
Overlooking Revere Beach, the Ebb Tide soon became a "clubhouse" for members of the Patriarca family to socialize and plan crimes.
By the late 1960s, the Ebb Tide had earned such a bad reputation that Castucci changed its name to The Beach Ball.
When Castucci found out that Winter Hill members Joseph "Joe Mac" McDonald and James Sims were hiding from the authorities in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, he passed that information to his FBI handlers.
However, Bulger decided to wait until the end of the National Football League season so that he could also steal Castucci's sports betting earnings.
Bulger and Flemmi cleaned up the blood, wrapped the body in a child's blanket, and stuffed it into the trunk of Castucci's new Cadillac Sedan de Ville.