Gerardo Catena
Named by Joseph Valachi in 1963 as the underboss under Vito Genovese, and by the Attorney General as Genovese's substitute in New Jersey. He was in the car stopped with Genovese at the Apalachin roadblock in 1957.
- Aliases
- Jerry Catena, Gerry Catena
- Family
- Genovese family (testimony, 1963)
- Role
- Underboss under Genovese, as Valachi answered the chairman (testimony, 1963)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 14 November 1957 — United States v. Bufalino, 285 F.2d 408 (1960): "Next came Russell Bufalino in his Chrysler Imperial with Joseph Ida, Gerardo Catena, Dominick Oliveto and Vito Genovese." Court's account of the evidence.
- 25 September 1963 — Attorney General Kennedy (printed p. 7): "Gerry Catena is doing the same in New Jersey," substituting for Genovese. Attorney General's statement.
- 8 October 1963 — The chairman asked Valachi (printed p. 246), "Who is the underboss under Genovese?" (cleaned from the OCR) Valachi: "Jerry Catena." Shanley confirmed to counsel: "Jerry Catena; that is correct" (printed p. 251). Testimony.
A “Gerald Catena” also testified in the Kefauver Committee’s New York–New Jersey hearings of 1950–51. The research for this page did not tie that witness to this record, so the hearing is not cited here.
No opened record gives his birth or death. The 1963 hearing record mixes kinds of statement. Valachi’s and Shanley’s answers are sworn testimony; counsel’s questions are not, though a witness’s “yes” makes them part of the testimony; LaVern Duffy’s description of Exhibit 8 is the committee staff reading its own chart. A chart entry never fills a role on this archive.
Records
itemOrganized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, Part 1 (September 25 to October 9, 1963)The first printed volume of the 1963 Senate hearings: Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's opening testimony, Joseph Valachi's public testimony, New York police witnesses, Exhibit 8 and Charts A to E.itemUnited States v. Bufalino, 285 F.2d 408 (2d Cir. 1960)Second Circuit opinion reversing the convictions of Russell Bufalino and nineteen others for obstructing justice and perjury after the 14 November 1957 gathering at Apalachin, New York. The court says the government offered no evidence of the meeting's purpose.
itemExhibit No. 8: "Masseria-Maranzano War and Evolution of Gang Control—1930 to Present"Staff fold-out chart presented on October 1, 1963: the 1930 to 1931 war in three key-coded groups and the lines of succession drawn from it to five 1963 bosses. Several name boxes are illegible in the scan.