John Evangelista Costa, also known as Juan Acosta, was born on December 27, 1900 in Puerto Rico to John J. Costa and Tomassa López. He moved to the mainland United States in 1918, just after Puerto Ricans gained United States citizenship, and settled in Boston, where he rented an apartment on Albion Street and worked as a helper in a Navy Yard.
Mr. Costa died at the Norfolk Prison Camp on July 22, 1937. He was 36.
