The Frank Balistrieri Family of Milwaukee, WI

ButtonGuys of The New York Mafia presents two new articles for the pleasure of our fans,

A "Racketeer Snapshot" on Milwaukee Mafia boss Frank (Frankie Bal) Balistrieri

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/frank-balistrieri-milwaukee-mafia-boss/

and a unique (50 photo) pictorial chart featuring the inducted members, and top associates, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's "Balistrieri Family"

https://thenewyorkmafia.com/the-balistrieri-family-leadership-chart/

...Enjoy!

One of those guys who isn't talked about a whole lot, but wielded a whole lot of power.

I agree with you. Thats one of the reasons I wrote a story about him and decided to create a "membership chart" depicting the hierarchy of his family. Not much known about them like some of the other families.

My curiosity,why the family shortly ceased to exist after Balistrieri death?

The Milwaukee Family" didn't evaporate after Balistrieri's death. In fact, it continued on under the auspices of Joseph Joe Camel" Caminiti and Peter "Petey Pitch" Piccurro. But like many other borgatas throughout the United States, their "salad" days were over. Federal indictments, a dwindling of new aspirants, and attrition whittled away at the Balistrieri "Outfit" until they were eventually down to a whisper.

It's the same scenario all across the country. Only in NYC, where there were legions of members and a large recruitment pool do we see the ball continuing to roll forward. But even here they are a wisp of their former selves.

That Shorecrest Hotel that they owned back in the day was a nice place. Both Frank's kids were made guys, one died, the other sold the hotel to some investment/hotel chain group, but you can see photos of the inside and just imagine what kind of a place it was in Sr.'s heyday. Some pretty nice apartments in that 9 story building. Must've been something to own a 150 unit complex like that for 40 years or whatever it was.

That alone made the Balistrieri's multimillionaires (I'm sure)

Balistrieri I was certainly a interesting mob figure. Obviously he was a pretty clever boss. One thing I always go back to is the Donnie Branco operation. Balistrieri seemed to know something was off and knew enough to pull out of their deal with the vending machine company

Yes, I do recall that also. But the initial "spotlight" the Brasco investigation put on him eventually led to problems for him and his kids.

Balistreri felt the associate Brasco was pushing the machines too hard through Lefty, and also Tony Conte just shows up out of the blue with no connection trying to start up a vending machine company. Milwaukee controlled a lot of vending machines and knew everyone in the business in their area.

I never knew the famous car bomb in Casino was blamed on Balistrieri, he blamed Rosenthal for his problems in Las Vegas.

Oh, no doubt. I read somewhere a while back the hotel was sold for 5 or 7 million. Frank's son was the sole owner of the place after his brother died. I think he lived in the top floor of the Hotel too. The restaurant "Snugs" on the ground floor of the hotel was where Frank conducted business. I was reading some reviews of the apartments and there were some former employees of the restaurant and hotel that were talking about what a great guy and boss Frank was to work for.

$5 or $7 mill? And thats just a single hotel, not even taking about all their other assets, or which I'm sure they had. Balistrieri made big big money during his 3+ decades at the top of the heap. He left his kids in great shape

Well, there are two sides to that coin. Yes, he left them in good shape, but he was also instrumental in bringing them into a life of crime and getting them both sent to prison and disbarred when he could have set them up to live a straight life instead.

Did you see what I did there? About the coin?? I'm here all week folks.

Guess this is now another defunct family?

Pretty much I'd say. If there is any "traditional" Italian "organized crime" action still around Milwaukee, I'd imagine it's at a bare minimum. Another dinosaur

The Outfit runs the show in Milwaukee now with the help of the Outlaws motorcycle club. Also let me add Lake County is just across the border.

AliceC,

Just make sure that coin you're speaking about isn't a "wooden" nickel. lol.

In life, depending upon where and to whom you were born to, and your subsequent upbringing and viewpoints, we all make our decisions in life. Let's face it, life itself is one big decision.

Each decision we make, each choice we make, generally carries with it both some good and some bad. We make our choices, and live with the results. The good. The bad. And the in-between.

Like the man said, "Pick your Poison!"