Velotta was a native of Cleveland, Ohio and moved to California after completing a 1957 burglary term in prison. Velotta was once described as a tall, skinny man with brown eyes and thinning hair. He was reportedly highly skilled in bypassing hi-tech alarm systems. In early 1966, an FBI agent allegedly roused Velotta out of bed and warned him that J. Edgar Hoover himself had sent word that if one more bank got burglarized in northeastern Ohio, Frank and his crew would go down for it, whether they did it or not. The federal agent's threat of recrimination did not fall on deaf ears. In California, Velotta continued to lead a gang of burglars and became a close friend and confidant of Jimmy "the weasel" Fratianno who put Velotta's skills to good use. Fratianno would give Velotta's crew inform