Frank Valenti was the boss of the Rochester Crime Family from 1964 until 1972, and then he was allowed to retire in 1977.

During his time he attended the Apalachin Meeting of 1957, where he was underboss of the Rochester family (his brother was the boss at the time). In the 1963 Valachi hearings both Frank and his brother Constenze were identified as major Mafia figures, particularly Frank, as Joe Valachi stated that he was a Bonanno solider.

Franks brother who was the boss of the family refused to cooperate with the law about the Apalachin Meeting and was handed a 16 month prison sentence. Jake Russo then took control of the family, as Frank couldn’t make a move as he was ordered out of the State for 3 years due to election law violations.

Frank moved to Pittsburgh in the early 1960s and became a capo under John LaRocca in the Pittsburgh Crime Family. It was with LaRocca’s help that Frank was able to make a power move to regain control of the Rochester Family from Russo in 1964. Russo was never seen again.

Frank died in 2008 at the incredible age of 97. His brother Constenze also died peacefully at the age of 75, 7 years earlier.

Born on this day, September 14, 1911, Frank Valenti would go on to become one of the most resilient and calculating figures in the history of the Rochester Crime Family, a man whose patience, cunning, and well-placed alliances allowed him to outlast rivals and ultimately seize control of one of upstate New York's most significant mob operations.

Frank came from solid Sicilian-American mob stock. His brother Constenze Valenti served as boss of the Rochester family, with Frank operating loyally beneath him as underboss. That loyalty was on full display in November 1957, when both brothers attended the infamous Apalachin Meeting in upstate New York — the gathering of over sixty American Mafia bosses that ended in catastrophe when local law enforcement stumbled upon the assembly and sent dozens of the nation's most powerful criminals scrambling through the woods. Constenze, refusing to cooperate with investigators or explain his presence at the estate of Joseph Barbara, was handed a 16-month prison sentence for his silence. It was an old-world show of omertà, but it came at a significant cost.

The fallout left the Rochester family in a vulnerable position. Frank himself was forced to leave New York State for three years following election law violations, effectively removing him from the equation entirely. With Constenze incapacitated and Frank exiled, Jake Russo stepped in to take the reins. Meanwhile, the 1963 Valachi hearings thrust both Valenti brothers into the national spotlight, with informant Joe Valachi identifying Frank as a former soldier in the Bonanno crime family — one of New York's legendary Five Families — adding another dimension to his already complex mob pedigree.

Rather than disappear into obscurity, Frank used his exile productively. Relocating to Pittsburgh, he embedded himself within John LaRocca's Pittsburgh Crime Family, rising to the rank of capo and earning the trust of one of the most respected bosses in the American underworld. When the moment came, it was LaRocca's backing that gave Frank the muscle and authority to return to Rochester in 1964 and wrest control from Russo. Jake Russo subsequently vanished without a trace, as so many inconvenient men did in that era.

Frank Valenti led the Rochester family from 1964 until 1972, and was permitted the rare honour of a peaceful retirement in 1977. He lived to the extraordinary age of 97, passing away in 2008. His brother Constenze also died peacefully, aged 75. Frank Valenti's long life and calculated rise remain a testament to the enduring principle that in the mob, patience and the right friends will always outlast brute force.