Valachi's knowledge was mostly limited to NY. When asked about other families such as the Outfit, Detroit, Philly, Florida, etc. he either embellished or told his handlers he didn't know. In fact, it's now become known that his knowledge for the most part was only limited to the Luciano/Genovese family. And he only had general knowledge of the other families, like who the bosses were. He didn't know what the other families were involved in, or who had got moved up and who didn't and who were the Capo's and soldiers, etc. The feds actually fed him information during their debriefings of him to make him more credible.
Great point, Sinatra.
I say his often about some of the bullshitters we get on these sites and their "inside information." The easiest way for these clowns to give themselves away is to start claiming that they know what's going on from New York to Chicago to Detroit to Las Vegas to California. Because for 99 percent of street guys, their knowledge is confined to their own domains and neighborhoods.
And with the assimilation of Italian Americans, and the dwindling of Italian neighborhoods, it's even truer today than it was back then. Go ask a captain in one of the Five Families if he knows what's going on in Cleveland or Detroit (assuming that you knew one and could ask him that type of question). He'll look at you like you have two heads.
