The Witness Protection Program

Podcast Transcript

In 1970, the United States passed the Organized Crime Control Act, which established the Witness Security Program or WITSEC.

Since being enacted, WITSEC has had thousands of witnesses and family members enter the program, none of whom, to date, have been lost under their protection.

The program is a key weapon in the fight against organized crime and has been a subject of public fascination.

Learn about the Witness Security Program, why it exists, and its impact on the American justice system on this Episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The Witness Security Program, commonly known as the Witness Protection Program, was created under Title 5 of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970.

During the 1960s, organized crime grew in prevalence in the United States and began to dominate major urban areas.

While organized crime had been around in some form since the founding of the country, the rise of organized crime within the US can be attributed to the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919.

The Eighteenth Amendment banned the sale, production, and transportation of alcohol and became known as Prohibition, a subject I covered in a previous episode.

Before the passage of the 18th Amendment, organized crime in the United States operated largely on the margins of society, focusing on activities like gambling, theft, and minor rackets.

However, Prohibition created a lucrative opportunity. The high public demand for alcohol drove these fragmented criminal groups to expand their operations, uniting in pursuit of profit.

Cities across the country, especially Chicago, Boston, and New York, emerged as epicenters of organized crime. For many immigrants arriving in these urban centers, the promise of stable work within these criminal “families” proved tempting, especially when legal employment was scarce. As a result, these organizations rapidly grew in size and influence.

With emboldened criminal syndicates now dominating the streets, violent crime surged. One of the most notorious incidents was the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, which I discussed in a previous episode.

The shocking nature of the massacre, combined with the authorities’ failure to convict anyone involved, galvanized public concern and led to greater efforts by the government to combat organized crime.

Even after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, organized crime didn’t vanish—in fact, it adapted and persisted. Corruption was widespread, with politicians and law enforcement officials accepting bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to criminal operations.

Now more structured and powerful than ever, these crime families shifted their focus to other ventures, including gambling, racketeering, extortion, and drug trafficking. Their exploits were often sensationalized in the media and became part of American popular culture.

Law Enforcement Agencies like the FBI were under massive amounts of pressure to do something about these syndicates.

However, there was a huge problem.

Testifying against organized crime organizations is dangerous. Cooperation with law enforcement could risk the lives of the person testifying and their family.

For members of the mafia, there is a Code of Silence, known as the Omertà. The code basically stipulates that when outsiders, like law enforcement, ask you questions, you do not cooperate.

The main rules under Omertà are:

You are not allowed to use legal aid to settle personal problems; you are expected to settle personal grievances on your own or within the family.
You should never cooperate with authorities under any circumstances.
And if you are wrongfully convicted of another member’s crime, you are expected to serve the sentence.

This also goes so far as to willfully ignore and avoid others’ illegal activities, so you can’t be called to testify.

If you violate this code, there is a high chance of violent retaliation. Informants are considered “snitches” or “rats.”

If you aren’t a member of organized crime, then you can just be flat-out threatened to keep quiet.

The first person to publicly speak out about the mafia was Joe Valachi, a soldier for the New York Genovese Crime Family, one of the Five Families that controlled New York City.

I’ve previously done an episode on the Five Families that you can check out.

The Genovese Family was the oldest organized crime family within NYC.

Valachi had been convicted of heroin trafficking in 1959 and had been given a 15-year sentence.

It is believed he decided to testify to avoid the death penalty for a murder committed while in prison.

He claimed the murder was committed in self-defense as he had received a “kiss of death” from the family and was defending his own life from an ordered hit on him.

Cooperating with the US Justice Department, in 1963, he testified to the Congressional McClellan hearings on Organized Crime.

He provided information on the history, structure, operations, and named members of the families.

This testimony showed that the mafia actually existed, something the FBI under its director J. Edgar Hoover claimed didn’t exist.

As the hearings were televised to the public, the violence and intimidation that were practiced became public knowledge. However, the testimony of Joe Valachi was a one off event and it wasn’t as if people were lining up to testify against the mob.

If law enforcement or government agencies like the FBI wanted to make progress against these organizations, they would need to offer incentives to get people to testify.

Before WITSEC, the Federal Witness Protection program was created in the 1960s.

This program is very similar to the program that was created in 1970, but it was more informal.

They would protect witnesses with army bases and safehouses, but didn’t focus on long-term protection and aid. Think Frank Pentangeli from The Godfather II, who was kept in a secure facility with guards and fencing.

It was from this that the Witness Security Program was created.

The program states that the US Attorney General can relocate and protect witnesses regarding organized or other serious crimes.

There are witnesses who are crucial to a case and would be in immediate danger if they were to testify.

The program is meant to protect witnesses and their family members who are threatened before, during, and after a trial because of their cooperation with the Government.

The first decade of WITSEC was overwhelming, with the program being understaffed and promises to participants being broken.

In response, the government provided more funding and increased the number of staff within the program.

The Program was later amended in 1984 by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act.

In 1997, another important WITSEC program was created. The Emergency Witness Assistance Program was used for immediate, short-duration witness assistance. This program is non-protective and only lasts for a maximum of thirty days.

It is also important to note that states have the right to form their own Witness Protection Programs, though very few do so.

Only six states and Washington, D.C., provide a Witness Protection Program, and the services are far less protective.

So, what services does WITSEC provide?

WITSEC erases the witnesses’ formed identity and relocates them to a new place where they are less likely to be recognized.

In these new homes, they are given a new identity and expected to live a new life.

So, how does someone get into the Witness Security Program? It is a multistep process.

A person may become eligible for WITSEC if they possess critical information or testimony related to a major federal or organized crime case, particularly those involving violent crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, or the Mafia. Potential witnesses are typically identified by Federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, and ICE.

Once identified, the Assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case assesses the witness’s potential value. This includes evaluating the credibility of the witness, the importance of their testimony, and the severity of threats they face.

If the prosecutor supports enrollment, they submit a formal request for protection to the Office of Enforcement Operations (OEO) within the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

The OEO conducts a comprehensive review of the request. The office evaluates whether the threat is credible and imminent, whether relocation alone would be insufficient, and the logistical feasibility of long-term protection.

If approved, OEO authorizes the U.S. Marshals Service to proceed with enrollment.

Before final acceptance, the witness must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This legally binding agreement outlines the witness’s obligations, including full cooperation and truthful testimony, no contact with former criminal associates, adherence to behavioral expectations, including not committing any future crimes, and confidentiality about their new identity and location.

After acceptance, the U.S. Marshals Service begins the logistics of protection.

The witness and eligible immediate family are relocated to a new, undisclosed location in the U.S. or, in some rare cases, abroad.

They are issued new names, Social Security numbers, and legal documentation such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and sometimes employment histories.

Once relocated, the Marshals Service then helps the witness get a reasonable job, assists in finding housing, and provides a substantial payment of $60,000 a year on average.

For employment, witnesses must seek employment “aggressively,” and if they are not doing so, they will not receive the $60,000 payment.

Also, before entering, witnesses must pay off debts and complete criminal or civil obligations.

The most dangerous part of the program is when the witness is called to testify.

Security is maximized to get the witness into the courthouse using a variety of methods, including arrival by helicopter, boat, and armored cars.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons will evaluate if the witness needs to be relocated to a different prison.

Now, some of you might be thinking; These are criminals. Aren’t there risks in giving them new identities and giving them a new life?

I think this is a good question and one that the WITSEC program has to deal with.

Have there been criminals who have entered the program and reoffended? Yes.

In WITSEC, there is a 17% recidivism rate, but this is well below the national average of 82%.

If the witness is caught for a crime in their new community, Federal Marshals are expected to let the authorities know of their witness status to protect them.

If the state cannot protect the witness, the case will be sent back to the OEO, which will consider reinstatement in the program as a prisoner.

While the system isn’t perfect, it has proven invaluable to investigations and getting convictions.

When a member of WITSEC is providing testimony, there has been a conviction rate of 89%, resulting in the conviction of roughly 10,000 criminals.

The WITSEC program has been highly effective and safe for its participants.

There are two basic rules the witnesses have to follow: don’t contact former associates or unprotected family members, and don’t return to their original location.

Among the thousands of relocated and protected people, no witness who has followed the program’s rules has been killed or injured.

From its inception in 1971 through 2024, WITSEC has protected an estimated 19,250 people, including both witnesses and their family members. Exact numbers are unknown because that data isn’t publicly available.

This averages to around 350 people entering the program each year.

Typically, about 40–50% are the actual witnesses, with the remainder being spouses, children, or close family members who were relocated with them.

The Witness Security Program has been a key tool in the arsenal of prosecutors who are trying to fight organized crime. By providing protection to those who can testify to crimes, it has brought thousands of some of the highest-profile criminals in the country to justice.

The Executive Producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The Associate Producers are Austin Oetken and Cameron Kieffer.

Research and writing for this episode were provided by Olivia Ashe.

Today’s review comes from listener JayWelsh2 over on Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write:

Concise awesomeness

Gary’s ability to craft interesting, concise content on Everything Everywhere continues to pique my interest daily. Seeing a new episode or occasionally revisiting an encore episode is like a good cup of coffee.

Keep up the great work!

I officially joined the Completionist as I write this review!

Thanks, Jay! First, let me congratulate you on your ascension to the completionist club. Also, if you haven’t noticed, the number of encore episodes has decreased dramatically over the last month in a half. Don’t worry, all the old episodes are still there if you want to listen to them.

Remember, if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you, too, can have it read on the show.