Career
Joseph Valachi was born in the East Harlem section of New York City on September 22, 1903. He came from an impoverished Neapolitan immigrant family with a drunken, violent father. Valachi later blamed this background for his turn to organized crime.
Valachi's criminal career began with a small gang known as "The Minutemen," so-called for carrying out smash and grab burglaries and escaping within a minute. Valachi was the driver for this band, and his ability to make a quick getaway earned him a reputation as a rising star in the underworld.
In 1921, Valachi was arrested on grand larceny charges. In 1923 Valachi was arrested in the aftermath of a botched robbery; he subsequently pled guilty to attempted burglary and was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment. He was released after nine months and, having been replaced with a new driver, created a new burglary gang.
In the early 1930s, through mob contact Dominick "The Gap" Petrilli, Valachi was introduced to the Cosa Nostra or Mafia, and soon became a soldier in the Reina Family (now known as the Lucchese Family) during the height of the Castellammarese War. Valachi fought on the side of Salvatore Maranzano, who eventually defeated the faction headed by rival Joseph Masseria. After Masseria's murder, Valachi became a bodyguard for Maranzano. However, this position was short-lived, as Maranzano himself was murdered in 1931. Valachi then became a soldier in the family headed by Charles "Lucky" Luciano (eventually known as the Genovese Family), in the crew headed by Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo. Valachi remained in this position until the time he became an informer.
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