Vito Genovese
Convicted in 1959 of a narcotics conspiracy that the Second Circuit found he helped direct. Joseph Valachi named him in 1963 as head of "my family" and called him "a boss of all bosses under the table."
- Born
- 1897
- Aliases
- The Right Man
- Family
- The family Valachi called "my family" and named for Genovese (testimony, 1963)
- Role
- Head of that family; "a boss of all bosses under the table," in Valachi's words (testimony, 1963)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 1949 — Shanley testified (printed p. 249) that his treatment at a 1949 dinner given by Frank Costello "gave every indication that he had emerged firmly as the top man in organized crime throughout the country." He also testified that Genovese was "naturalized in 1936, denaturalized in 1953." Testimony, 1963.
- 14 November 1957 — United States v. Bufalino, 285 F.2d 408 (1960): stopped at the Apalachin roadblock in Russell Bufalino's car, "Vito Genovese remarked that he understood that he did not have to say anything and he said nothing." Court's account of the evidence; the convictions were reversed.
- 12 January 1960 — United States v. Aviles, 274 F.2d 179: "We find upon all the evidence that there is ample proof of Genovese's participation in the conspiracy as one of its principal directing heads." He was called "The Right Man" by the narcotics distributors and was sentenced to fifteen years. Court opinion, about that conspiracy.
- 25 September 1963 — Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (printed p. 7): "while Vito Genovese is in Federal prison, Tommy Eboli is substituting for him in New York." Attorney General's statement.
- 27 September 1963 — Valachi (printed p. 88): Genovese had power over two other families, "but Vito Genovese is a boss of all bosses under the table." He called the family "our borgata" (printed p. 81). Testimony.
- 8 October 1963 — Valachi (printed p. 246), naming the families: "we will start with Vito Genovese, with Jerry Catena, that is my family" (the OCR reads ".Terry"). Testimony.
The birth year is from Shanley’s testimony: “He was born in 1897 in Italy.” No opened record gives his death.
The family and role lines rest on Valachi’s testimony. The Second Circuit’s “principal directing heads” is a court finding, but it describes the 1950s narcotics conspiracy, not a family. 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. Aviles, 274 F.2d 179 (2d Cir. 1960)Second Circuit opinion of January 12, 1960 affirming most of the 1959 narcotics-conspiracy convictions of Vito Genovese, Vincent Gigante and others. It finds Genovese one of the conspiracy's "principal directing heads."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.
itemFBI Vault: Vito Genovese, Part 01Part 01 of the FBI's Genovese file, mostly 1957–1959 serials from the Top Hoodlum period. The deleted-page sheet lists 119 pages withheld. The OCR is fragmentary.
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.itemGenovese v. United States, 378 F.2d 748 (2d Cir. 1967)Second Circuit opinion of May 26, 1967 affirming the denial of Vito Genovese's 1965 motion to vacate his narcotics-conspiracy conviction. It sets out the history of the case: indictment in July 1958, conviction by a jury in April 1959.itemHearing of October 9, 1963: final day of Part 1The last day of Valachi's public testimony, with further New York police and staff witnesses. The chairman stated a chart total of 338 persons, 289 of them identified by Valachi.itemValachi's executive-session testimony of October 29, 1963, released July 28, 1964Closed-session testimony on narcotics, made public in 1964. Valachi described one heroin deal in 1952 and going to Anthony Strollo, "Tony Bender," for money.itemTestimony of Commissioner Henry L. Giordano, Bureau of Narcotics, 28 July 1964 (Organized Crime and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, Part 3)The Commissioner of Narcotics tells the Senate subcommittee that since 1956 the Bureau has "developed 20 major conspiracy cases resulting in the conviction of 206 important gangsters," naming Vito Genovese, John Ormento, Carmine Galante and Joseph Valachi, and presents the Valachi-hearing family charts marked for Bureau convictions.
itemVito Genovese, 1959 (Library of Congress)World-Telegram & Sun staff photograph by Phil Stanziola of Vito Genovese, half-length and standing, filed by the newspaper's library under a "Crime Probe" heading. A copy is stored here.itemSenate narcotics hearings, 27 September 1963: Valachi on Vito Genovese's gambling interests 'like Las Vegas and Havana, Cuba, when it was there' (p. 116)Asked by Senator Javits how Vito Genovese made his money, Joseph Valachi named an Italian lottery, slot machines, and 'lots of interests in gambling like Las Vegas and Havana, Cuba, when it was there.'itemSenate narcotics hearings, 1 October 1963: Valachi, 'Anywhere where Meyer Lansky is, Vito Genovese is,' and 'I knew in Havana' (p. 159)Asked about Genovese's establishment in Las Vegas, Joseph Valachi said 'Anywhere where Meyer Lansky is, Vito Genovese is,' that he knew the places in Havana but not in Las Vegas 'since they went out of Havana,' and that Lansky and Genovese 'do everything together.'itemExhibit 3, east coast narcotic traffic: the 1954-58 Genovese heroin conspiracy 'via Cuba' (Senate narcotics hearings, pp. 923 and 1117)The Bureau of Narcotics history printed as Exhibit 3 says the principal conspiracy case it concluded in 1958, against Vito Genovese and others, 'began in 1954 and involved the smuggling of large amounts of heroin into the United States via Cuba.'