Criminal record of Joseph Valachi, as printed in the 1963 hearing record
The police and FBI identification record of Valachi, read into the record by Sergeant Ralph Salerno: arrests from 1921, Sing Sing sentences in the 1920s, federal narcotics cases from 1944, and Atlanta penitentiary entries.
- Date
- 1963-09-27
- Kind
- hearing
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate, 88th Cong., 1st sess., pursuant to S. Res. 17, 88th Cong., Part 1
- Rights
- A work of the United States Senate, printed by the Government Printing Office. Public domain in the United States. 17 U.S.C. § 105. The NCJRS cover sheet records reproduction permission as "Public Domain / U.S. Senate."
At printed page 133 of Part 1 (NCJRS PDF page 138), Sergeant Ralph Salerno of the New York Police Department identified a document: “This is the criminal record of Joseph Valachi, also known as Joseph Cargo, he used the names Charles Charbano, Anthony Sorge, and he has used the name Joseph Siano.” He gave his FBI number as 544. The chairman ordered: “Let that be published in the record.” The record is printed at printed pages 133 to 135 (NCJRS PDF pages 138 to 140).
It lists arrests in New York from 1921. It lists Sing Sing commitments in 1923 and 1925, as “Jos. Valachi” and “Joseph Valachi, No. 77100.” It lists federal narcotics arrests from 1944. Its last entries are at the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta: “Joseph Valachi, No. 77320, 5-18-56, conspy to sell narc., 5 yrs.” and No. 82811, 6-17-60, for violating the narcotics laws, 15 years.
This is a police identification record. It is not a court finding, and many of the arrests it lists ended in dismissal. The Atlanta numbers match the prison index cards filed separately from the National Archives.
