Frank J. Valenti

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Frank Joseph Valenti (born September 14, 1911 in Pittsburgh , † September 20, 2008 in Sugar Land , Texas ) was an Italian-American mobster of the American Cosa Nostra and from 1964 to 1972 the head of the Rochester family in Rochester (New York) and Constenze's brother "Stanley" Valenti , who was the boss of the family until 1958.

Life

Ascent

From the 1930s to the early 1950s, Frank Valenti rose in the Rochester and Pittsburgh Mafia circles and his influence within the Mafia continued to grow. He ran a chain of small spaghetti restaurants.

Frank and his brother Stanley were among the 100 or so Mafia members who attended the legendary Apalachin Meeting in 1957 ; a meeting of almost all the bosses of the American Cosa Nostra in November 1957, which took place in the community of Apalachin , New York state and was stormed by the local police. Since the meeting, Frank had been the underboss of the family.

exile

After both refusing to answer questions before a grand jury investigated the reasons for the underworld meeting, they were jailed for disobeying the court in August 1958. Frank was released within a year and Costanze was released after sixteen months. Although both were free again, the Valentis were unable to maintain control of Rochester's underworld activities. Both were under constant surveillance by law enforcement. In April 1961 Frank Valenti was sentenced to three years for election fraud in exile in Rochester. He returned to Pittsburgh, where he had spent most of his adult life, and worked for the LaRocca family . Stanley, unable to move freely without federal agents, could hardly be a potential boss. According to the authorities, after the Valentis' stay in prison, Jacomino "Jake Russo" Russolesi took over as the new head in 1958 with the help of his contacts to the Magaddino family from Buffalo .

Seizure of power

In September 1964, Frank Valenti's exile ended and he returned to Rochester, where, with the assistance of John Sebastian Larocca, he attempted to regain control of the local underworld. He is even said to have come to an agreement with Stefano Magaddino after Jake Russo fell out of favor with Magaddino. In November 1964, Frank Valenti announced that he was the new head of the local mafia and organized two big parties at which almost the entire local gambling scene and various Valenti's sympathizers were present. Russolesi was not one of the guests after he mysteriously disappeared a few days before Valenti's first party and was never found. The unproven suspicion of law enforcement was that Valenti had secured his new position with Russolesi's murder.

The end

On December 15, 1972, Frank was convicted of extortion and received an extended prison term. In March of the following year, he was convicted of violating the Gun Act and five more years were added.

Underboss Samuel J. Russotti took over the family after Frank was imprisoned, and remaining Valenti loyalists were either forced out of town or joined Russotti's new regime. Stanley Valenti, who was a capo during his brother's reign, was demoted.

After his release, Frank went to Arizona in 1977 , then to Texas, and died on September 20, 2008 at the age of 97 in a nursing home in Houston .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Crime Inquiry Still Checking on Apalachin Meeting . In: Toledo Blade , Associated Press, July 2, 1958, p. Two. Retrieved May 27, 2012. 
  2. ↑ Apalachin Meeting Ruled Against Gang Killing Of Tough, Probe Told . In: Schenectady Gazette , Associated Press, February 13, 1959, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved May 27, 2012. 
  3. ↑ Devico pg. 190
  4. ^ Mafia Membership Charts - Lennert's Rochester list
personal data
SURNAME Valenti, Frank J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Valenti, Frank Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mobster; Boss of the Rochester family
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh
DATE OF DEATH September 20, 2008
Place of death Sugar Land , Texas