 Valachi was convicted of drug trafficking in 1959, and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.In 1962 while he and Genovese family boss Vito Genovese were in prison together, he murdered an inmate he thought was a hitman sent by Genovese, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.Valachi subsequently became a government witness, and the next year testified before a U.S. Senate committee in what became known as the Valachi hearings.