UNIT 45

► Ex. I. Scan through the text. Work in pairs to question the text and to give answers.

Joseph Valachi (1903-1971) - American gangster, member of Lucky Luciano's mob family, who turned informer in 1962. [Informer is someone who is involved in a criminal organization, but who secretly tells the police about its activities in return for money,] Valachi held a rank in the Mafia equivalent to that of a sergeant. In 1959 Valachi was convicted of narcotics violations and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In June 1962, in the federal prison at Atlanta, crime boss Vito Genovese, a fellow inmate, suspecting him (incorrectly) of having become an informer, gave him the kiss of death (a sign that he was to be killed). Valachi panicked, killed a fellow prisoner who he mistakenly thought was his assassin, and, in revenge against the death threat, told all to the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the FBI, and the Justice Department. [Federal Bureau of Investigation is the police department in the US that is controlled by the central government, and is concerned with crimes in more than one state.] Valachi was the first Mafia's member ever to describe its history, membership, and inner workings. Robert Kennedy called his testimony the "biggest breakthrough in fighting against organized crime and racketeering in the United States." [Robert Kennedy is the then U.S. attorney general and adviser during the administration of his brother President John Kennedy. Attorney general is the chief lawyer of the government in the US.] Investigations, indictments, and convictions followed Valachi's testimony. His memoirs were published as The Valachi Papers in 1968.