The Milwaukee crime family, also known as the Balistrieri crime family or the Milwaukee Mafia, was an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Peter J. Devico The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra. (pg.154-156) The organization maintained links to other Midwestern Mafia families, including those in Chicago and Kansas City,3 Mob Families Linked to Teamsters Fund George Lardner Jr., The Washington Post (November 22, 1985) and had over 50 "made" members at its peak. The family's most influential boss was Frank "Mr. Big" Balistrieri, who took control of the organization in the early 1960s and was greatly involved in the skimming of revenue from Las Vegas casinos.United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Searches Conducted on March 8, 1980 Who was Frank Balistrieri, Milwaukee's reputed organized crime boss? Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (July 24, 2024) After the death of Balistrieri in 1993, the Chicago Outfit began gaining control over illegal rackets in the Milwaukee area.Jay C. Ambler. "Milwaukee, WI Crime family" (2000) Rick Porrello's American Mafia.com The Milwaukee family ultimately ceased to exist as an independent organization and was largely absorbed by the Chicago family.Milwaukee Mob Godfather “Pitch” Picciurro Passes Away Peacefully At 94, Linked Back To Old Balistrieri Regime Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (January 10, 2024)
History Origins Italian-American organized crime in Milwaukee originated in the city's Third Ward, which was home to the majority of Milwaukee's Sicilian population in the early 20th century.The Milwaukee Mafia: An Interview With Gavin Schmitt Matthew J. Prigge, The Shepherd Express (March 9, 2015) The first known Mafia boss of Milwaukee was Vito Guardalabene, who immigrated to the United States from Santa Flavia, Sicily in 1903 and became naturalized U.S. citizen in 1911.Milwaukee (Balistrieri) Mob leaders Thomas Hunt, The American Mafia (2021) Guardalabene was mentioned in the memoirs of Nicola Gentile as being "the king" of the Little Italy community in Milwaukee's Third Ward circa 1915.Mafia history and Nick Gentile Informer (October 18, 2020) The syndicate headed by Guardalabene possibly originated as a branch of the Chicago Outfit. Upon Guardalabene's death from natural causes on February 6, 1921, his son Giovanni Battista "Peter" Guardalabene became boss of the Milwaukee crime family until 1924, when he turned over control of the family to a distant relative, Giuseppe "Big Joe" D'Amato. D'Amato died from pneumonia at the age of 41, on March 28, 1927.
Vallone, Ferrara and Alioto Following the death of D'Amato, the Milwaukee Mafia was led by Joseph Vallone, who immigrated to the U.S. from Prizzi, Sicily in 1907. Vallone was the co-owner, along with Pasquale Migliaccio, of a wholesale grocery company which supplied sugar and other moonshining ingredients during the Prohibition era. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, a number of Sicilian mafiosi from Chicago were inducted into the Milwaukee family after relocating to the area. When the Commission was formed in 1931, it was decided that the Milwaukee family would remain under the control of and answer directly to the Chicago Outfit. In the early 1930s, Vallone was among 45 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury for operating a regional bootlegging syndicate. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Vallone and Migliaccio opened the Broadway Liquor Company. Vallone retired from racketeering in 1949, and died from natural causes on March 18, 1952.
Prior to his retirement, Vallone had groomed Salvatore "Sam" Ferrara, a relative and fellow native of Prizzi, to succeed him as boss of the Milwaukee family. In 1952, Ferrara became involved in a dispute with an underling, Frank Balistrieri, when he attempted to acquire an ownership share of the Ogden Social Club, a gambling venue owned by Balistrieri, to which Balistrieri resisted. Ferrara then expelled Balistrieri from the family, causing dissention in the Milwaukee Mafia. The membership of the family subsequently deposed of Ferrara by vote and requested the intervention of the Chicago Outfit to oust Ferrara. In November or December 1952, a panel of senior mobsters from Chicago responsible for overseeing the Milwaukee family, including Tony Accardo, Rocco Fischetti and Sam Giancana, ruled that Ferrara had abused his position and demoted him, installing Balistrieri's father-in-law, John Alioto, as the new boss. Balistrieri was subsequently reinstated as a member of the Mafia.
The Milwaukee family's influence grew significantly under Alioto's leadership, particularly within the labor movement. Alioto also introduced a leadership panel known as sagia to resolve disputes within the family. In 1954, John DiTrapani, a relative and godson of Sam Ferrara, along with Frank LoGalbo and Jack Enea, plotted to seize control of the family from Alioto. The rebellion was quelled with the murders of DiTrapani and Enea. DiTrapani was shot and killed in his car on March 18, 1954,Few Clues in Car Murder The Waukesha Freeman (March 19, 1954) and Enea was found shot to death in a ditch in Waukesha County on November 29, 1955.Hunt Clues In Murder Of Jack Enea The Sheboygan Press (December 5, 1955) Slain hoodlum's body was dumped off in county Len Worzalla, The Waukesha Freeman (June 3, 1972) LoGalbo survived by transferring from the Milwaukee family to a Chicago family crew in Chicago Heights, Illinois, although he continued to reside in Milwaukee under the protection of the Outfit.
During his reign, Alioto reportedly groomed his son-in-law Frank Balistrieri to take control of the family when he retired. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports, however, Alioto may have been opposed to Balistrieri becoming boss at the time of his retirement. The catalyst for this change in policy may have been an extramarital relationship that Balistrieri reportedly had outside of his marriage with Alioto's daughter. Nonetheless, Alioto attended a social function on December 27, 1961, which served as the official induction of Balistrieri as the new head of the Milwaukee family.
Balistrieri era
At the time he became boss, Balistrieri was overseeing a lucrative loansharking racket, held a monopoly over illegal sports betting in Milwaukee, and also had significant influence in the vending machine business. Seeking to increase the family's wealth and influence, Balistrieri imposed a "street tax" upon gambling racketeers as well as several legitimate businesses in Milwaukee, recruiting Joseph Gurera and Sebastian "Buster" Balestrere from Kansas City to enforce the protection racket. Balistrieri caused discontent in the family by promoting the newly arrived Gurera to the rank of capodecina as well as abolishing the sagia process and ruling in an autocratic fashion. He was protected from any insurrection, however, by his close relationship with leaders in the Chicago Outfit, especially Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio. From the 1960s until the 1980s, Balistrieri and his associates controlled almost a dozen bars, including some of Wisconsin's earliest gay bars.Did the Mafia control Wisconsin's earliest gay bars? Radio Milwaukee (August 2, 2022)
By the 1960s, the FBI had several informants in the Milwaukee Mafia, including Joseph Gurera and August "Augie" Maniaci.'Joey G' drops a dime and a body or two Edmond Valin, The American Mafia (2019) The FBI also had an illegal wiretap planted in Balistrieri's office. In March 1967, Balistrieri was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to two years in federal prison.A renowned attorney. A powerful mob boss. The untold story of how Franklyn Gimbel won an early case against Frank Balistrieri Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (January 17, 2024) He appointed his underboss and younger brother Peter Balistrieri to serve as acting boss during his absence. Balistrieri was released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone, Minnesota in June 1971.
On September 11, 1975, Milwaukee mobster and FBI informant August Maniaci was shot and killed outside his home on the city's East Side after feuding with Balistrieri.My cousin was killed by a car bomb in Milwaukee. A mob boss was the top suspect. Now, I’m looking for answers Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (January 17, 2024) His brother, Vincent Maniaci, survived an attempted car bombing in August 1977 when twenty sticks of dynamite attached to his Buick Electra failed to explode.Mob-Style Killing in Milwaukee Green Bay Press-Gazette (July 1, 1978) Two Chicago police officers suspected of making and selling pistol United Press International (September 30, 1980) Vincent Maniaci subsequently fled to Honolulu.Murder of a Tyrant Zach Brooke, Milwaukee Magazine (May 29, 2015)
In 1978, the FBI launched an undercover investigation into the Milwaukee family, with the FBI agent Gail T. "Ty" Cobb posing as a vending machine businessman using the undercover alias "Tony Conte".The Balistrieri Tapes, Part 9: "Undercover agent was target for Balistrieri's hit men" Mary Zahn and Bill Janz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (January 17, 2024) Another undercover FBI agent, Joseph D. Pistone, who was investigating the Bonanno crime family of New York under the alias "Donnie Brasco", introduced Cobb to Bonanno family soldier Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero who, in exchange for a fee, assisted Cobb in establishing himself in the vending business.United States of America v. Frank Peter Balistrieri, John H. Balistrieri, and Joseph P. Balistrieri Justia (May 21, 1985) Pistone visited Milwaukee several times in 1978 in an attempt to "form a marriage" between the Milwaukee and New York families.How former undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, helped infiltrate the Milwaukee Mafia Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (January 17, 2024) Initially unaware that "Conte" was under the protection of the Bonanno family, Balistrieri allegedly assigned three men to kill Cobb because he had entered the vending business without his permission. Ruggiero later arranged a meeting between Cobb and Balistrieri, at which Cobb obtained permission from Balistrieri to operate in Milwaukee. Frank Balistrieri and his sons, John and Joseph, entered into an agreement with "Conte" in August 1978 in which they became silent partners in the Best Vending Company, an FBI front company.Alleged conspiracy was option agreement: Balistrieri Racine Journal Times (March 24, 1984) Frank Balistrieri along with his two sons Joseph and John worked with Bonanno crime family capo Michael Sabella, and soldier Benjamin Ruggiero in extorting Best Vending Company from May 1978 to February 1979. The Balestrieris terminated the partnership in December 1978 due to their suspicions that "Conte" was a government agent.Agent heard Balistrieri conversation Marshfield News-Herald (August 21, 1982) The Milwaukee family did not report these suspicions to the New York or Chicago families, however.
Fifteen members and associates of the Milwaukee and Bonanno families, including Balistrieri and his sons, were indicted by a federal grand jury on October 1, 1980, at the culmination of the FBI's three-year investigation.Balistrieri, two sons indicted by grand jury Ray Doherty, United Press International (October 1, 1981) On April 9, 1984, Frank, John and Joseph Balistrieri were convicted in federal court in Green Bay of attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion.Balistrieris found guilty of extortion Green Bay Press-Gazette (April 10, 1984)