Cosa Nostra presence in Milwaukee, WI today?

I was curious to know if any posters are familiar if there are still any remnants of Italian organized crime in the City of Milwaukee still operating today.

Of course back in the day what later became known as the Frank Balistrieri crime family was very active. If I'm not mistaken the origins of this network originated with Vito Guardalabene way back in the early 1900s.

But in the year 2022 do they have any presence whatsoever? Or are they completely defunct like so many other outfits around the country?

I don’t think they’ve really had a presence in the last 25 years....despite a handful of made members still alive
In the 60s they had roughly 20 made members, by the 80s it was more like ten and half of them were older. Frank Balisteri,Peter Balisteri,Joe and John Balisteri ,Steve Disalvo,Sal and Dennis Librizzi,Joseph Logue, and Carl Micelli were the last of the made guys at that point...


Here are some FBI REPORTS from the 80s


September 9, 1983: FBI agent Gail T. Cobb testifies that a second agent, Joseph Pistone, was offered a job in bookmaking by Frank Balistrieri. Frank said that a man named Sam “wasn’t doing a good job”. Sam was probably Salvatore Librizzi. Cobb also testified that Steve DiSalvo had claimed it would take a large effort to kill all of the “stoolies” in Milwaukee.
1984
Others fell for their involvement in Balistrieri’s illegal gambling ring. On Wednesday, May 30, 1984, Steve DiSalvo, 65, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Salvatore Librizzi, 41, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and fined $15,000. Carl “Matches” Micelli, 64, was put on three years probation and fined $5,000.
1985
On November 13, 1985, Allen Glick testified that Frank Balistrieri did not threaten him or ask him for money. (He was, however, threatened by Frank Rosenthal and Nick Civella.) The two never had “any confrontation”. Glick said he had initially approached Balistrieri because “he was the most influential person who could help me obtain the loan.” Glick also said that Joseph and John Balistrieri “never made demands” on him and did not see the brothers at all between 1976 and 1979. In fact, Glick acknowledged making $70 million in profit when he sold the Stardust. Prosecutors tried to argue that a 50% option agreement was evidence that the Balistrieri family had a hidden interest in the casino; Glick said, however, that such an agreement was common, and was never carried out anyway. (Glick testified that he thought the option was “voided”; as recently as 2015, John Balistrieri had suggested the option was still valid, though what this means when there is no casino is unclear.) The trial was delayed when Frank complained of dizzy spells after he was told that his appeal for his bookmaking conviction had been turned down by a Federal Appeals Court. The court also upheld the convictions of Steve DiSalvo and Dennis Librizzi.
1986
A confidential informant in Sherman, Texas told the FBI on February 6, 1986 that Steve DiSalvo told him about a time that he and Frank Stelloh (who DiSalvo called “a legend” in the prison system) were wiring a car to explode. DiSalvo also complained about the failure on Balistrieri’s part to help him get out of prison. DiSalvo said “we made the Balistrieris” and “we did a lot of work for them, but they aren’t helping.”
A special agent stopped at Benny DiSalvo’s residence on December 31, 1986, and spoke with him. DiSalvo said his parents were from Sicily and he had visited there. He said that while he recently retired from Pabst, he had been in the construction business for many years, including the 12 years he lived in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn. He said he was not related to Steve DeSalvo(DiSalvo), but knew him from growing up in the same neighborhood. DiSalvo denied, however, that he knew anything about any organized crime activities.
1987
On February 2, 1987, a special agent visited Benny DiSalvo in the hopes of turning him into a “137” (informant). DiSalvo said he knew Frank Balistrieri, Steve DeSalvo(DiSalvo) and Harry D’Angelo, as he grew up with them. He denied knowing anything about any criminal activity. He said he was retired and simply lived with his wife and daughter.
An FBI agent telephoned Benny DiSalvo on March 3, 1987 and asked him outright if he was interested in being a confidential informant. DiSalvo insisted that while he did use the Brady Street Pharmacy, he knew nothing of any criminal activities. The agent said if he changed his mind, arrangements could be provided.
1989
The Milwaukee Office of the FBI sent a memo to the Miami Office on September 11, 1989. They believed that at the present time, the Milwaukee Family was largely destroyed due to both Frank Balistrieri and Steve DiSalvo being in prison. They acknowledged there were still people who could step into leadership roles. They had also heard that DiSalvo was scheduled for release in May 1990 and had planned to go into the heroin and cocaine trade.

I found this site

http://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/

And a list of names of associates/made men


http://mafiamembershipcharts.blogspot.com/search/label/Milwaukee

Alioto-Joseph Jnr. 1963
Balistrieri-Carlo Connie 1958
Balistrieri-John Johhny Bal 1948
Balistrieri-Joseph Jnr. Baby Joe
Brocca-Ralph Junnie
Busateri-George 1948
Buscemi-Salvatore Sam 1928
Cannizzaro-Thomas Big Tom 192?
Capeletti-Peter 1920
Cimino-Anthony 1967
Corzano-Nicholas
Dentice-Michael Dr. Mike
Dentice-Paul Paul Dennis
Gallo-Vincent
Gaudesi-Dominic
Guarnieri-Nicholas 1961
LaRusso-Thomas*
Librizzi-Dennis Libby 1947
Madrigrano-Joseph 1920
Manzo-Gerardo Jerry
Marconi-Andrew*
Martellano-Angelo 1936
Panella-Richard Dick
Safina-John Giovanni 1943
Sansone-Nicholas* Nick the sp*c
Sansone-Richard
Sciortino-Peter
Scorcese-James*

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/u...p;Board=8&main=32012&type=thread

There is no Mafia family left controlling rackets in Milwaukee.
There has not been one...not one indictment showing proof of an active family in the past 20 years at the least.
There has been no indictments even showing independent or remotely affiliated groups operating traditional Mafia crimes.

If the Chicago outfit has any influence over the city the same reasoning above applies.

I guess there is not much of an Italian/American community there anyway?

The Milwaukee Mafia Family: Don't Sell It Short https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-milwaukee-mafia-family-don-t-sell-them-short

The Life and Times of Frank Balistrieri: The Last, Most Powerful Godfather of Milwaukee https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/b...nk-balistrieri-the-last-most-powerful-go

A short history of La Cosa Nostra in Madison, WI https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/a-short-history-of-la-cosa-nostra-in-madison-wi

There probably are many Italians there, but I don' think they would want to get involved in the Mafia, if there is one to join in that city. I think that after the Balistieri arrests thing ended, with a few old timers left with little to do.

Where are Frank Bs sons today?

Also assuming they lost the vending machine business, when and how did that happen?

Did it go completely defunct all at once? I can't imagine shop owners peeling off one by one...

I think they went to prison and lost their law licenses after the Donny Brasco case. I don't know if they are still alive. I assume they got out of prison by now.

Found this.

http://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2014/01/obituary-of-mafia-godfathers-son_7.html?m=1

For some reason I was thinking they were a good bit younger .

Right, their lives are called a waste by some douchebag prick who was likely born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The fuck would he know?

I'd imagine Frankie Bal's kids want for nothing. He ran that city for decades and made a mint. Those kids are in good shape.

On wikipedia its write that Racine and Kenosha still have an italian american community and that 11.5% of Kenosha population is italian.

After Balistrieri's death the Outfit took over some rackets in Milwaukee and Madison.

What was there to take over in Madison in 1993?

I have always heard that some SW (and probably elsewhere) wisconsin milk hauling companies were mobbed up but have never, ever found any answers on it.

People would mention a certain name and mafia and then clam up. I'm talking regular citizens in very small towns. This was in the 80s and earlier.

No idea, Joe Ferriola owned a home in Green Lake, Wisconsin I believe the Outfit always went there if they want to get away from the heat in Chicago.

so after all the previous posts the consensus appears to be there is no mafia currently operating in the city of milwaukee.
aside from discussing in a historical context the topic of an active family can finally be put to bed along with families in...
los angeles
san jose
san francisco
rochester
seattle
dallas
new orleans
tampa
cleveland
pittsburgh
pittston/bufalino family
st louis
denver
and dare i say kansas city

i am not stating that organized crime doesn't exist in these cities what i am stating is that it is not controlled by the mafia and has not been for a long time.

I can't remember the name, but in Madison by the Coliseum is a bar that was a Capone hideout back in the day. It's in the city now but was in the country back then.

The upstairs still has gun portals in the walls. I was only there once.

I would still like to hear how they lost the vending machine business in Milwaukee, which they apparently had a complete stranglehold on back in the day, up through the 70s or so, at least.

Eddie's Wonder Bar, later named Wonder Bar Restaurant, the one near the fairgrounds right?

The mob never controlled Los Angeles,San Francisco,Dallas or San José because the families was too small; never existed a Seattle crime family because the Colacurcios was only stripclubs owners.

Yes, the majority of major cities throughout the U.S. no longer have a traditional organized crime presence as they once did. Only in the Northeast corridor does CN still have some weight. It is a much different world today.

Nobody really cares about the present day organized crime in those cities, because it isn't LCN. They're not book or movie-worthy in other words. If they were there'd be podcasts and such on them.

I completely agree with you on that. It is now only common "crime" and no longer has the mystique that the traditional organized crime families once provided readers.

The Colacurcios in Seattle never was a crime family but only stripclubs owners.

No but they'll always be considered Italian organized crime, unless they're completely straight. That's just the way it is.

That's the taint

Yeah that's gotta be it. I was there in like 2005.

plenty of Italians in rust belt towns.

it's just that the mafia is not our top career choice.

The # of Italians living in a specific area is not a reliable way to measure local mob presence.

If it were, then Philly, Buffalo and even Pittsburgh and Cleveland would be mob powerhouses.

But, as we all know, that's not the case.

I partly agree with you, but at the same time cities that have virtually no Italian population can certainly be ruled out. Anyway, the cities you mentioned really don't have the type of environment to support a Mafia family, they're all dried up with nothing going on. Except for Philly, which still has a significant mob presence, so you need to remove that one from your list.

How about Rockford, Illinois??

This particular network was still very active through the 1990s and later

I wonder if, what, and how, they have anything going nowadays

The reason why I put Philly is because it’s one of the most Italian metro in the country…yet their current crime family is quite tiny.

I too wondered about Rockford a while ago and (according to a poster whose name I forgot) said it’s a ghetto town now and there’s very little chance the outfit even bothers with it. Take it for what is worth.

I didn’t know they were still active in the late 90s.

The Five NYC crews, Upstate around Buffalo and surrounding territories, Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston & Providence (NE), all over Canada, Chicago & Detroit (both very limited), maybe maybe, maybe, maybe, a few other "pockets" of guys in other cities like Rockford, and that's about it.

It's half over. Maybe three-quarters over.

the american mafia may be half over but how powerful and influential is the remainder?