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Frank Balistrieri

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Frank P. "Frankie Bal," "Mr. Big" Balistrieri (May 27, 1918-February 7, 1993) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mafia boss who was a central figure in casino skimming during the 1970s. He remained powerful, cruel and feared in Milwaukee crime circles for most of his criminal career. For a time he even began a career ascent to national prominence. However, overall, Balistrieri was considered a lesser crime boss, nationally. This was because the Milwaukee family had come under the control of the powerful Chicago Outfit decades before Balistrieri gained power.

Personal

Balistrieri was groomed into the top "Boss" position of Milwaukee organized crime family for his first number of years by his father-in-law, John Alioto, the preceding boss, who, then, retired in 1961. Balistrieri referred to himself as, “....the most powerful man in Milwaukee,” and was always pressed and polished. He was sometimes called, "Mr. Slick" (one of his many nicknames), because he was a shiny little man who looked as if he spent a lot of time in front of a mirror. His presence reeked arrogance. He expected people to treat him with the royalty and respect he thought was due him. Detectives called him the "King of the Northwest Corner," because it was at a restaurant table at Snug's, in the Shorecrest Hotel, where he ruled, giving orders over a red telephone. After the "hit" on acutance, August "Augie" Palmisano, Balistrieri was quoted as saying, "He called me a name - to my face - and now they can't find his skin!"

Another of his nicknames was the, "Mad Bomber," because allegedly one of his favorite ways of extracting revenge was to secretly have explosive devises attached to the cars of those who he thought crossed him. He was also suspected of but never formally indicted for ordering a bomb placed under the car of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, in 1982. Rosenthal was the former Outfit front man at the Stardust Casino and Fremont Hotel and Casino, during the Mafia's Las Vegas, Nevada casino skimming days. This bombing was referenced in the book and screenplay, "Casino," about the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas, written by Nicholas Pileggi. That work by Pileggi morphed into the movie, "Casino," starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone, and was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Casino Skimming

On March 20, 1974, Balistrieri met with Kansas City mobsters Nicholas Civella and Carl DeLuna, in Las Vegas. During the meeting, the mobsters agreed that Balistrieri would meet with the mafia front man in Las Vegas, Allen Glick, to secure an option to purchase part of his Argent Corporation. Glick would agree to sell half of the corporation's ownership to Balistrieri's sons, John Balistrieri and Joseph P. Balistrieri, for $25,000 which, as the mobster later claimed, "...he had an obligation arising from the assistance to Glick in obtaining a pension fund commitment in the amount of $62.75 million." [1]

Soon Balistieri and Civella were feuding over each other's share from the skimming operations. Finally, they requested arbitration from the Chicago Outfit. The results of the arrangement, as ruled by Outfit leader Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa and underboss John "Jackie The Lackey" Cerone, demanded that The Outfit receive a 25% tax as its cut in skimming operations.

Conviction

In September 1983, Balistrieri and his two sons were indicted along with top crime figures from Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri. They were charged with skimming over $2 million in unreported income from the Stardust and Fremont. This was the first case in which federal authorities had successfully connected mobsters from four different states.

While awaiting sentencing on extortion and bookmaking charges the following year, Balistrieri claimed to be innocent. He even told the press, "The first time I heard the word, 'Mafia,' was when I read it in the newspapers." However, on May 30, Balistrieri was sentenced by Judge Terence T. Evans to 13-years imprisonment and fined $30,000. His sons were both convicted of extortion from a vending machine businessman the previous month. Both sons got two years in prison and each lost his law license.1

In September 1985, Balistrieri was tried in Kansas City, Missouri with eight other associates for skimming an estimated $2 million of the gross income of the Argent Corporation from Syndicate casino operations. Federal prosecutors further accused Balistrieri of skimming the unreported income and distributing it to organized crime figures in Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. In failing health, Balistrieri took a plea bargain. He pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy in exchange for dropping federal charges, which included attempting to conceal ownership of a casino to skim profits and interstate travel to aid racketeering. He also attempted to shield his two sons from any charges with the plea deal.

In December 1985, U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Stevens, Jr. sentenced Balistrieri to 10-years imprisonment (to run concurrently with his 13-year sentence from 1984). According to the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator, Balistrieri was released from prison in 1991.

Although at one time he was thought well enough of in Mob circles to be considered for a seat on The Commission, Balistrieri's chances of ever making that leap were thwarted when he was sent to prison so late in life for so long without ever having been on the Commission.

Frank Balistrieri died of natural causes in early 1993. The leadership of the Milwaukee crime family was reportedly taken over by his son, Joseph Balistrieri.

Further reading

  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-02-864225-3
  • Neff, James. Mobbed Up: Jackie Presser's High-Wire Life in the Teamsters, the Mafia, and the FBI. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989.
  • Turner, William W. Hoover's FBI. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993.
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi - Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1988. [2]

Notes

1. Ambler, Jay C., "Milwaukee, WI," ("Mafia Family Cities"), Pg. 3; americanmafia.com

References

  • Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-313-30653-2
  • Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8160-5694-1
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