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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1963)
Information on Gangland Informant Well Guarded by Government Sources (Editor's note NewtDaoeri lor days have been carrying stories about Joseph Valachi, the iorir.9r underworld execu tioner who turned "canary" emd now is spilling what he knows to federal authorities. But there has been little pub licity about the man himself. The following dispatch tells what happened when a team of UPI reporters went after his background.) By JACK VANDENBERG Washington -IUPII- Joseph Valachi is a short squat man with a swarthy complexion and iron-gray hair cropped about one and one-half inches from his forehead. He has impassive brown eyes, a broad nose and heavy cheeks that create deep creases along his jawline. His dark eyebrows indicate the color of his hair in younger Cays. ' Bui you wouldn't know any of this if you depended on the word coming out of the vari ous federal agencies that keep records on men such as the former gangland executioner. Valachi has become such a hot commodity at the Jus tice Department that the lid has been slammed tight on all personal information about him. Government sources have "leaked" the information that Valachi was in federal cus tody and was spilling all he knew about Cosa Nostra, the nation's top crime syndicate. Valachi was in a position to know plenty. Long Police Record He had a police record dat ing back to 1918, when he was 15. The record showed 18 arrests in a 38-year period prior to his final arrest and imprisonment in Atlanta, Ga penitentiary on narcotics charges. It was while he was at At lanta that Valachi, feeling that he had been unjustly fingered for death by his former underworld associates, decided to sing in an apparent belief it was either them or him. That was1 more than a year ago. Recently Justice Depart ment sources talked willingly, although not for attribution, about all of this. But the flow of information suddenly was choked off. There was backstairs talk - all officially denied - that the department was afraid it might offend the Senate Per manent Investigations Sub committee, which is sched uled to question Valachi later. J Requests Denied Even requests for routine biographical information or the criminal record of the former gangster were denied. "I don't think' we should say anymore about this right now, two sources said, al most as if they had rehearsed the line. "You can get all the information you want about him when he appears before the Senate committee. It did not seem to matter that several, newspapers, in cluding the New York Times, already had printed stories about Valachi's criminal rec ord. It seemed to matter even less that his photograph had been published in at least one newspaper and one national magazine. "The lid is on here," one source said. "We aren't saying anything about Valachi right now," said Edwin O. Guthman, the Justice Department's chief spokesman. "You guys are overplaying this story. It isn't that big." Even the New York police department referred all in quiries to "federal authori ties." It declined to open files for such routine information as the place of Valachi's birth, his height, weight or marital status. Guttural Voice Before the lid was clamped down, however, one source re vealed that Valachi had a gut tural voice, spoke crude Eng lish and chain-smoked nerv ously while telling what he knew about Cosa Nostra. And the New York police department had given the New York Times details of Valachi's criminal record be fore the word went out that Firemen Injured in Three-Alarm Blaze Portland - (UPII - Two fire men were injured in a S75, 000, three -alarm fire which whipped through the Stanley Drug Products plant here Sunday. Firemen Jim Timmons suf fered facial burns and Wes Knapp received a back injury in a fall. Neither was hospi talized. - Fire Bureau officials said flie fire apparently started in an . overheated dryer. Firm president Stanley Bachman said the loss included pharma ceutical raw materials and records valued at $50,000. Damage to the building was estimated at $25,000. Mrs. Moore Begins New Marathon Hike Zennor; England - IUPII - Dr. Barbara Moore, the 59-year- old marathon hiker, Sunday began a planned 1,000-mile walk from Land's End to John O'Groat's in Scotland. Mrs. Moore made the trip three years ago in 21 days. In 1960 she walked from San Francisco to New York. everything was to be released in Washington. At the end of the week, one Justice Department source lifted the lid enough to con firm the Times" information and to add a little. According to this informa tion, Valachi is just 60 years old and is married. He has two children, one of whom is married. He is about five feet nine or 10 inches tall and weighs about 180 pounds. He is the son of Italian im migrants and was born in New York City in 1903. During his criminal career. his record showed, Valachi used the aliases Antony Sorge, Charles Charbano and Joseph Siano. He had been sentenced to prison three times before he war sent to Atlanta. Once he drew a suspended sentence. Most of the 18 charges levelled against him during his 38 years in crime were dismissed. Accused of Larceny In 1921, Valachi was ar rested for burglary. He was picked up again on the same charge two years later. Later in 1923, he was accused of grand larceny. The charge was reduced to disorderly con duct and he was sentenced to 10 days in jail. Nine days later he was ac cused of attempted burglary and was sentenced to prison. He was accused of robbery in 1925, 1929 and 1936. Extor tion charges placed against him in 1929 and 1934 were dismissed in both cases. He received a suspended sentence for possessing policy slips in 1936 and was arrested for the first time on a nar cotics charge in 1944. The nar cotics charge was dismissed in federal court. Similar charges were made against him in 1948 and 1955 but no disposition of the cases is shown on his record. I Ar-v! A SNAPS COMPANIONS - Arriving in New York from Europe on the liner Queen Eliza beth, Robert Steincr, 7, of Mile City, Mont., takes a snapshot of two of his traveli companions, former President and M Dwight D. Eisenhower. (UPI) SECTION B PAGES 1 to 8 MEDFORDtJTRIBUNE MEDFORD, OREGON, MONDAY,- AUGUST 19, 1963 Agenda Announced For Board Meeting Salem -IUPII- Proposed mips for minimum standards ol safety for airuort lirpnsine will be the major topic at the State Board of Aeronautics meeting to be held Saturday at the Eugene hotel in Eu gene. The meeting is being held in Eugene to coincide with the annual convention of the Ore gon Pilots Association, it was announced. 'This will provide a con- HAS LAST LAUGH Dallas IUPII Three men caught siphoning eas from a car behind the police station explained they were "just playing a ioke on a friend " The car belonged In rhiof jailer Grady McMahan. voniont meeting among the pjlots of Oregon, the manv luuuiui aviation agency om cials who will be in attend-' ance, and the board," accord ing to ' department director Robert Dunn. JS5SKEL rjKttfKHlHWfllZlM 1 i wtm i Rusk Urges Exchange Wi Of Television Shows Washington - (UPII - Secre tary of State Dean Rusk wants a wider exchange of television programs between nations, and favors an in crease in U.S. programs on international events. j Rusk, in remarks published in TV Guide magazine Sun day, called for more pro-1 grams "devoted to the basic forces and issues which domi-1 nate the course of interna- j lional events today." 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