Costello v. United States, 365 U.S. 265 (1961)

Supreme Court decision of February 20, 1961 affirming the revocation of Frank Costello's 1925 naturalization because he had concealed that his occupation was bootlegging.

Date: 1961-02-20
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Rights: Opinion of a United States court. Works of the federal judiciary are in the public domain in the United States. The text was read on CourtListener.

Supreme Court of the United States, decided February 20, 1961. The government sued to revoke Frank Costello’s citizenship. The opinion states that in 1925 he swore in his naturalization papers and before a naturalization examiner “that his occupation was ‘real estate,’” and that the District Court found this was “willful misrepresentation and fraud” and that “his true occupation was bootlegging.”

The Court treated the concealment as material, reasoning that “In 1925 a known bootlegger would probably not have been admitted to citizenship.” It affirmed the judgment revoking his naturalization.

The later question, whether he could be deported for crimes committed while he was a citizen, is Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120 (1964).

itemCostello v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 376 U.S. 120 (1964)Supreme Court decision of February 17, 1964 holding that Frank Costello could not be deported under the two-crimes provision for convictions entered while he was a naturalized citizen.itemCostello v. United States, 350 U.S. 359 (1956)Supreme Court decision of March 5, 1956 affirming Frank Costello's income-tax conviction and holding that an indictment resting only on hearsay before the grand jury is valid.