Link:
News Story
John once owned this beautiful 1948 Cadilac Limo.
It's now in the Gilroy Car Museum in Hickory Corners, MI
Link:
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
John Balistrieri Death
Thursday, April 20, 2023
The Beef That Didn't Moo - Wisconsin Ties to the New York Mob!
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| retrow.wordpress.com |
Tummy Ache Merchants linked to the Bonanno Mob Family of New York!
Updated April, 2023: This is almost an unbelievable story from the 1960's and enough to turn your stomach! If you've ever had any sympathy for the American Mafia and their way of life, consider this great American meat scandal from the early 60’s.
Wisconsin is home to a huge dairy industry. One of the problems dairy farmers have always had, is what to do with old, sick and sometimes already dead cows, known in the trade as “downers” (because they literally drop down in the fields).Mink ranchers need a constant supply of low grade meat, as minks are carnivorous and if not kept well fed, will start to eat each other. This is not good for the mink rancher's bottom line, and that meshes perfectly with the dairy farmer’s problem. Wherever there are a large number of dairy farms in an area, there tend to be mink ranches. And with a lot of mink ranches, you have businesses specializing in processing “downers” for mink food.
If you’ve never been to a rendering plant (I have), it’s a nasty place where dead cattle, horses and other animals (as well as mink carcasses after skinning) are processed (stink and stench with millions, if not billions of flies!). These animals can be used in any number of ways, being turned into soap, animal feed or pet food, as well as raw, boned, meat for carnivores like mink or zoo animals. The New York Mob boys back east, with their control and influence over the meatpacking industry also found a use for this “stinger” meat. They “arranged” for processors on the east coast to buy it and grind up with good beef to mix in with their sausages, hamburgers and processed meats!
In 1964, a federal meat inspector walked into a meat warehouse in Ohio and almost keeled over from the smell! He opened a box of meat and handled it, later saying that he couldn’t get the smell off his hands for two weeks. The meat was traced to a plant in Wisconsin that was licensed to process animal food for mink ranches and zoos.
Problem was, not only were they selling their product to local mink farmers, but also to Charles Anselmo, who was an associate of one of New York’s notorious Mafia families, the Bonannos. Mr. Anselmo was then re-selling this “product” to mob controlled meat processing companies back east. Anselmo knew - as the Wisconsin processor(s) must have known, that they were feeding people, not minks. The meat was being held over in warehouses en route east, often treated with formaldehyde to get rid of the stench and discoloration, then repackaged for human use. Formaldehyde is the chemical that morticians use to preserve human bodies, also used as an insecticide, fungicide and general disinfectant. Eating can make you sick, but, toxicologists say, it won’t kill you in small doses - unless you have a heart condition, in which case it can kill you! The Mob certainly wouldn't forgo a lucrative business just because a few people have heart conditions.
Detectives located one of the Wisconsin dealers by grabbing a truck driver (Joseph Hasenberg of Jim Falls, Wi) who hauled the meat east from Wisconsin. The driver was offered a deal if he would help collect evidence against the mink food supplier, Orland “Buster” Lea of Alma Center, Wi, who had a firm called Lea Brothers and was secretary treasurer of the LaCrosse Rendering Corp. Thomas C. Barr, 49, of Cameron, Wis., owner of the Tom Ban Meat Ranch hauled meat for Lea.
Apparently, Buster Lea first started a relationship with the Outfit underworld during prohibition years by selling sugar beets from his farm to Al Capone and associates in Chicago. They were in need of agricultural products to produce beer and liquor to quench the unending thirst of the public for booze. Buster owned several businesses and had trucking connections to get his vegetables to northern Illinois. During the decades after prohibition ended, it could be assumed the old contacts from Chicago led to other business opportunities through New York mob fellows.
Hasenberg, the trucker, earned his escape from prosecution by steering Lea into several tacit admissions, while wearing a wire. Lea knew that the meat was going to New Jersey and that the deals were handled with haste, surreptition and cash. There were no bills of lading and he knew that higher than standard trucking rates were charged. Lea admitted to having met Charles Anselmo (associate of the New York Bonanno crime family), bringing him sixty animal skins from Wisconsin as a present because Anselmo had said he wanted a fur coat for his wife.
Where's the beef?
The other major supplier for “stinger” meat was Dominick Gerace of Utica, NY, where in a surprise raid at his business turned up horse meat, sub-par beef and counterfeit U.S. Department of Agriculture stamps.
Whatever “dirty” meat came into New York was mixed in with good meat and sold to not only supermarkets, but other customers including the New York City school system, state hospitals and prisons, the Army, the Air Force, restaurants and hotels. In fact, if you happened to attend the New York World's Fair in 1964 and bought a hamburger or cheeseburger, you just may have sampled their product! What’s really disgusting is that several meat company executives were getting increasingly concerned about getting caught with horse meat in their products. Diseased beef, which might cause serious illness or even kill people, was a nuisance they could handle. But horse meat would capture the public’s attention, and bad publicity could kill the business. Nat Lokietz, an executive of the Merkel Co, overheard in a wiretap, was trying to persuade Charles Anselmo not to send any more horse meat. Anselmo would not be specific to the question of whether the next shipment contained horse. In frustration, Lokietz finally posed the question this way: “Does it moo?” “Well”, said Anselmo, “some of it moos and some of it don’t moo”.
Another disturbing side to this story, due to legal maneuvering, New York corruption and mob influence, most of those convicted in this scandal literally got a slap on the wrist with very minimal sentences and probation. Most of these criminals were right back in the same industry within a year or two. “Buster” Lea and Thomas Barr pleaded guilty with Lea being sentenced to six months, serving five. Barr served one month and both stayed on probation for two years. Both remained in their respective businesses. Three federal meat inspectors were also indicted. Not one of them was convicted, although it sure seems to me, the evidence against them was overwhelming! The book goes into great detail of what evidence was obtained and how the indictments came down.
The kingpin of the operation, Charles Anselmo (Bonanno mob associate) received an 18 month sentence, of which he served four and a half months! Never mind that he risked mass poisoning for profit. He was scarcely out of prison before he had set up a new meat brokerage in the Fourteenth Street market called the Kaylo Trading Company. Ahh, the sweet life of a New York Mobster! What are you going to think about the next time you have a bite of fresh kielbasa? Next in this series, stay tuned: The Mob in the Wisconsin cheese business!
Credit to and recommended read:
Vicious Circles by Jonathan Kwitny A very good book, written in the late 1970’s that goes into much more detail than what is posted here, well researched with a wealth of information, over 400 pages and a very fascinating read.
In 1964, a federal meat inspector walked into a meat warehouse in Ohio and almost keeled over from the smell! He opened a box of meat and handled it, later saying that he couldn’t get the smell off his hands for two weeks. The meat was traced to a plant in Wisconsin that was licensed to process animal food for mink ranches and zoos.
Problem was, not only were they selling their product to local mink farmers, but also to Charles Anselmo, who was an associate of one of New York’s notorious Mafia families, the Bonannos. Mr. Anselmo was then re-selling this “product” to mob controlled meat processing companies back east. Anselmo knew - as the Wisconsin processor(s) must have known, that they were feeding people, not minks. The meat was being held over in warehouses en route east, often treated with formaldehyde to get rid of the stench and discoloration, then repackaged for human use. Formaldehyde is the chemical that morticians use to preserve human bodies, also used as an insecticide, fungicide and general disinfectant. Eating can make you sick, but, toxicologists say, it won’t kill you in small doses - unless you have a heart condition, in which case it can kill you! The Mob certainly wouldn't forgo a lucrative business just because a few people have heart conditions.
Detectives located one of the Wisconsin dealers by grabbing a truck driver (Joseph Hasenberg of Jim Falls, Wi) who hauled the meat east from Wisconsin. The driver was offered a deal if he would help collect evidence against the mink food supplier, Orland “Buster” Lea of Alma Center, Wi, who had a firm called Lea Brothers and was secretary treasurer of the LaCrosse Rendering Corp. Thomas C. Barr, 49, of Cameron, Wis., owner of the Tom Ban Meat Ranch hauled meat for Lea.
Apparently, Buster Lea first started a relationship with the Outfit underworld during prohibition years by selling sugar beets from his farm to Al Capone and associates in Chicago. They were in need of agricultural products to produce beer and liquor to quench the unending thirst of the public for booze. Buster owned several businesses and had trucking connections to get his vegetables to northern Illinois. During the decades after prohibition ended, it could be assumed the old contacts from Chicago led to other business opportunities through New York mob fellows.
Hasenberg, the trucker, earned his escape from prosecution by steering Lea into several tacit admissions, while wearing a wire. Lea knew that the meat was going to New Jersey and that the deals were handled with haste, surreptition and cash. There were no bills of lading and he knew that higher than standard trucking rates were charged. Lea admitted to having met Charles Anselmo (associate of the New York Bonanno crime family), bringing him sixty animal skins from Wisconsin as a present because Anselmo had said he wanted a fur coat for his wife.
Where's the beef?
The other major supplier for “stinger” meat was Dominick Gerace of Utica, NY, where in a surprise raid at his business turned up horse meat, sub-par beef and counterfeit U.S. Department of Agriculture stamps.
Whatever “dirty” meat came into New York was mixed in with good meat and sold to not only supermarkets, but other customers including the New York City school system, state hospitals and prisons, the Army, the Air Force, restaurants and hotels. In fact, if you happened to attend the New York World's Fair in 1964 and bought a hamburger or cheeseburger, you just may have sampled their product! What’s really disgusting is that several meat company executives were getting increasingly concerned about getting caught with horse meat in their products. Diseased beef, which might cause serious illness or even kill people, was a nuisance they could handle. But horse meat would capture the public’s attention, and bad publicity could kill the business. Nat Lokietz, an executive of the Merkel Co, overheard in a wiretap, was trying to persuade Charles Anselmo not to send any more horse meat. Anselmo would not be specific to the question of whether the next shipment contained horse. In frustration, Lokietz finally posed the question this way: “Does it moo?” “Well”, said Anselmo, “some of it moos and some of it don’t moo”.
Another disturbing side to this story, due to legal maneuvering, New York corruption and mob influence, most of those convicted in this scandal literally got a slap on the wrist with very minimal sentences and probation. Most of these criminals were right back in the same industry within a year or two. “Buster” Lea and Thomas Barr pleaded guilty with Lea being sentenced to six months, serving five. Barr served one month and both stayed on probation for two years. Both remained in their respective businesses. Three federal meat inspectors were also indicted. Not one of them was convicted, although it sure seems to me, the evidence against them was overwhelming! The book goes into great detail of what evidence was obtained and how the indictments came down.
The kingpin of the operation, Charles Anselmo (Bonanno mob associate) received an 18 month sentence, of which he served four and a half months! Never mind that he risked mass poisoning for profit. He was scarcely out of prison before he had set up a new meat brokerage in the Fourteenth Street market called the Kaylo Trading Company. Ahh, the sweet life of a New York Mobster! What are you going to think about the next time you have a bite of fresh kielbasa? Next in this series, stay tuned: The Mob in the Wisconsin cheese business!
Credit to and recommended read:
Vicious Circles by Jonathan Kwitny A very good book, written in the late 1970’s that goes into much more detail than what is posted here, well researched with a wealth of information, over 400 pages and a very fascinating read.
Other of my related Mafia posts links:
The Beef That Didn't Moo - Wisconsin Ties to the Mob
Tales of the Milwaukee Mob and Two Cigarette Men!
Married to the Daughter of a Milwaukee Mob Boss-Our Pediatrician!
The Milwaukee Queen Bee of Organized Crime
Tale of a Failed Milwaukee Mob Hit!
Lieutenant Uhura (of the Starship "Enterprise") - close encounters with the Chicago and Milwaukee Mob!Part Two: The Milwaukee Mob and Lieutenant Uhura (Star Trek)
Saturday, April 23, 2022
Great Italian Food to "Die" For - Alioto's
“Papa John” emigrated from Santa Flavia, Palermo, Sicily in 1904. Born in 1888, he opened Alioto’s Garden restaurant in Milwaukee at the age of 35. He relocated the business to downtown Milwaukee during World War II and, from there, he and his sons Joseph and Angelo moved to Wauwatosa when the property was needed as part of the First Wisconsin project around 1950. A massive fire destroyed the current place in 1981 but they rebuilt and are still in business today. The restaurant is huge with a classic 1970’s style supper club ambiance. There is a separate full service bar room where you can relax before ordering or have an after dinner cocktail or two.
In 1952, the then current Milwaukee mob boss was Sam Ferrara. He and Frank Balistrieri got into a “beef” which had to be settled by the Chicago Outfit. The “Outfit” sided with Balistrieri, ordering Ferrara to step down and installing “Papa John” Alioto as the new Milwaukee leader. Ferrara was a “short timer” boss who was only in charge for about four years (1948 to 1952). The FBI and other law enforcement were never able to arrest or convict Alioto, but there is no doubt that he ran the mob through the rest of the 1950's into the 60's. The mafia's relationship with organized labor grew quickly under the leadership of "Papa John".
The early Santa Flavia Alioto family had a quite fascinating history. There were seven boys and one girl that emigrated in the early 1900’s. The girl never made it and I can’t find any info on why. Several siblings went west to California. "Papa John’s" brother Mariano “Mario” ended up in San Francisco and was shot and killed by the Black Hand in 1917. He had gotten married a few months before to Angelina Ingrassia, whose father had been assassinated by the same Mafia forerunner gang the year before in 1916. Mariano and "Papa John" had a nephew, Joseph Alioto, who eventually became the mayor of San Francisco from 1968 to 1975. The San Francisco Alioto Family History website claims that after the brutal Black Hand slayings the west coast Aliotos permanently severed all ties to the mafia going forward, but, who knows? I have not researched Mafia history in that part of the country.
Restaurant Chain of Succession: Papa John died in 1972 at the age of 84. After Papa John’s two sons (Angelo and Joe) came back from the war in the 1940's, they got involved with running the business along with a sister Frances. Son Joe died of a sudden heart attack in 1963 at the age of 41, leaving Angelo in charge until his death in 2011. Afterwards Angelo’s daughter Catherine (Kiki) and her husband Tom Warren took the reins until Kiki unfortunately passed away in 2016, leaving Tom managing the restaurant today.
Frank Balistrieri Tried to Muscle In?: Thanks to Gavin Schmitt’s research and his FBI file documents, an informant reported in 1964 that Frank Balistrieri and father-in-law Papa John Alioto were at odds over Frank’s treatment of Alioto's daughter. It was also reported that Frank wanted in on the restaurant after the sudden death of Joe the preceding year.
Interesting note: Papa John's son (who had the fatal heart attack) Joe, had a son John. He became a lawyer after college. He was a former Assistant State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, who then went on to private law practice. According to Tim Shanahan in his book, (Running With The Champ), at one point in the late 1970’s John had only one client. That client just happened to be the godfather of the New Orleans mafia, Carlos Marcello. It was around that time (1978), there was an ongoing investigation of Marcello who was suspected in the possible mob planning of John F. Kennedy’s assassination! Marcello went to prison in the early 1980’s, convicted of other unrelated charges. After more than six years behind bars, his conviction was overturned and he was released in 1989, and died in 1993. Lawyer John Alioto had a notable, extensive career as an attorney until he passed away in 2006 at the age of 56, living in Illinois.
Whatever the past history of Alioto’s Restaurant, this incredible nearly 100 year old family business survives and has extremely good food. We look forward to trying some of the other great looking entrees in the future!
Monday, January 24, 2022
Sally Papia Comment
"I dealt with Sally and Candy Papia when I was in Milwaukee in the mid 1980s. No details, of course, but I dated Candy for a few months, staying at her house in Brookfield for days, and not knowing they were the Mafia. Then, suddenly the honeymoon was over and they tried to blackmail and extort me for money, threatening to tell my boss at the time. I even met Sally in the back of her restaurant, where she continued to threaten me. I was a foreign student and did not have a penny. Sally claimed that I had gotten Candy pregnant and they wanted me to pay thousands of dollars for an abortion. They finally relented as I did not have any money, after they told my boss of my affair with Candy. He didn't care and didn't want to get involved. Two things: I am glad they died the way they did, and I realized that the Mafia people are ruthless but very very stupid. You give a picture of them that is nostalgic of criminals, just like Hollywood does."
Mr. Anonymous, thank you for your insight and comments. You are referring to a post that contained an article written by a former long time investigative reporter, Bill Janz, of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. I believe he was attempting to tell her side of the story as “she” saw it, I think he was quite honest in the article about their relationship/friendship and stated so.
I also have another post about her “The Milwaukee Queen Bee of Organized Crime” that is much more critical of her extraordinary life. Your insight is very valuable in presenting a more complete picture of what Sally and her daughter were really about. A story of a criminal mother, who married a criminal Chicago Mob guy with a spoiled, narcissistic daughter. I have no sympathy for criminals in the least and thank you very much for your comments. Feel free to elaborate on your experiences, I would be happy to publish more of it if you wish.
https://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2014/03/sally-papia-life-lived-on-egde.html
https://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-milwaukee-queen-bee-of-organized.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Comments on "The Mad Bomber" Frank Balistrieri
Comment received, July 24, 2021:
After a divorce, I lived in the Antlers Hotel next to Centre Stage. There was a pool hall in the hotel where I spent a lot of time playing pool. I saw plenty of well-dressed men frequent the pool hall just to talk with whoever was running it. There was a parking lot on the other side of the hotel with a White Castle on the corner. I became friends with the parking lot owner's son who ran it. Centre Stage customers would get their parking validated to park there for a dinner show. Once I went with my friend to go collect the validated receipts. Frank's big Caddy was always parked in front of Centre Stage with a parking ticket under the wiper. My friend said Frank always put the ticket there himself. We went upstairs and were let into the room where Frank was. Frank asked my friend, "Who's that?" because he usually came alone. My friend said my name and I quickly (too quickly) went to shake his hand. Another guy in a suit went to reach for something under his coat, Frank gave him a look and he relaxed but he refused the handshake with a wave. We met a lot of celebrities that came to perform at Centre Stage and parked in the lot. Tom Poston being the friendliest and funniest. Just a distant memory and I thought I'd share my brush with Mafia greatness. Good stuff on your page!
Comment received, July 26, 2021:
I wrote the above brush with Frank . . .
Several months later after I had moved from the hotel, the lead guitar player, steel guitar player in my Country band and I along with our dates, attended a dinner show featuring Johnny Rodriquez. As we were finishing our dinner, Frank approached the table and said, "Aren't you Dave's friend?". I said, "Yes". He said, "Welcome" and quickly walked away without a chance for further interaction or to introduce my friends. Came time to pay and I was told that our entire evening was 'comped' so the waitress smiled and said, "Can I get you all another cocktail or some desserts?" I didn't want to 'look a gift horse in the mouth' and quickly declined. I never got another opportunity to thank him but I did mail a Thank You card to Centre Stage c/o Mr Frank Balistrieri with a hand-written note thanking him for his generosity.
Link to the original post: https://mafiahistorymilwaukee.blogspot.com/2013/08/tales-of-milwaukee-mob-and-two.html
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Gangster's paradise
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| pinterest.com |
During the 1930s, Waukesha County, WI was a favorite hangout for Chicago gangsters
September 3, 2011 It seems you can’t swing a Tommy gun in Wisconsin and not point to a place that wasn’t frequented by some of the most notorious gangsters Chicago ever produced — Baby Face Nelson, Bugs Moran, John Dillinger and Al Capone.
The deep woods of northern Wisconsin had many well-known gangster getaways during Prohibition, says Chad Lewis, author of "The Wisconsin Road Guide to Gangster Hot Spots," and southeastern Wisconsin has its share of legends and lore as well. Those who actually saw the wise guys are quickly slipping away into history themselves, Lewis notes, but many of the encounters have not been forgotten. There are plenty of stories, for example, of gangsters pulling into a service station, buying $1 worth of gas and giving the attendant a $20 tip.
"Money meant nothing to these guys, because when they ran out of money they just went out and got more," Lewis says. "It’s almost as if they were the celebrities of the day."
Local historian Stephen Hauser of Elm Grove agrees. In the 1930s, when the country was deep into the Great Depression, a bit of gangster cash was just the thing for keeping yaps shut. In those days, when what is now Elm Grove and Brookfield were unincorporated and the area was dominated by farms, bootleggers would sometimes rent space in farmers’ barns to distill liquor.
"They paid very generously, probably better than they even needed to," Hauser notes. There are stories about a farmer’s child needing an operation, for example, and a gangster pulling a stack of cash from his wallet and handing it to the farmer for the hospital bill. "Gangsters were often seen in a positive light by many rural people."
Relatively rural, wooded areas in southeastern Wisconsin were perfect settings for halfway houses for gangsters on their way "up north" from Chicago and back again.
In those days, Bluemound Road was untamed, Hauser says. Because there were no local police departments in the area, it was patrolled by county sheriff’s deputies, some of whom took payoffs to turn a blind eye to houses of ill repute and speakeasies. Some deputies were eventually convicted of corruption and served jail time, he adds.
"Al Capone had a home right off Bluemound Road," Hauser says. The street now known as Capone Court was his driveway, and "nobody arrived unexpectedly at Al Capone’s house." A watchtower was built for a lookout post, and Capone kept a well-fed flock of Canadian geese on the property. If federal agents tried to surprise Capone, the geese would make enough noise to warn him. A tunnel led from the house to the garage so the gangster could make a quick getaway without being seen.
Federal revenue agents did manage to enter the home once when Capone was away and smash the still he operated on the property, Hauser says.
Capone also owned part interest in a greyhound racetrack that once stood just west of what now is Brookfield Square, Hauser says, and trained the dogs at the Mound Kennel Club across the street from the track.
In what is now Bishop’s Woods, a little shack off Elm Grove Road was used as a meeting place for gangster confabs. On occasion, Hauser says, their cars would get stuck in the muck, and an auto repairman just down the road would get a phone call and be asked to bring his tow truck. When he arrived, the gangsters told him to stay in the cab and look straight ahead. As soon as the gangsters hooked the car up for the tow, and he hauled it back on the main road, the repairman would be rewarded with a wad of cash.
When it was time for a break from the stress of dodging the law and rival gangs, some mobsters headed for Lake Country.
"These guys liked lakes," Hauser says. "They loved to put on the old dungarees and flannel shirts and go fishing."
So, Lake Country resorts and speakeasies, from Pewaukee Lake west to Okauchee and Oconomowoc lakes, also became gangster hangouts. Lewis says they would arrive at the lakeside resorts in pinstripe suits and shiny black Packards and try to blend in as tourists.
That tactic didn’t work for Jack Zuta, a Capone bookkeeper who defected to George "Bugs" Moran’s gang. Zuta, who knew that Capone did not take kindly to disloyalty, tried to hide out under the name "J.H. Goodman" at the Lake View Resort on Upper Lake Nemahbin in the town of Summit. Suspecting that a hit squad was on the way, Zuta was overheard making a frantic phone call from an Oconomowoc drug store, pleading for bodyguards to escort him back to Chicago.
Legend has it the hit squad sent to take care of Zuta was staying at a Lake Nagawicka resort, and lawmen at the time suspected them of robbing a Hartland bank to the tune of $100,000.
Just around sunset on Aug. 1, 1930, Zuta was pumping coins into a player piano in the ballroom of the Lake View Resort, according to the history section of the city of Waukesha’s Web site. A five-man assassination squad filed in through the back door, aimed their guns at Zuta, opened fire in full view of horrified hotel guests, turned and left the building. According to a Time Magazine account published on Aug. 11, 1930, the piano played the song Zuta chose just before the guns began blazing — "Good for You, Bad for Me."
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| This story ran in the September 2011 issue of: |
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Milwaukee Leg Breaker
Thanks to Gary Jenkins for the following guest post. Gary is a former Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit Detective. It is a blog piece he put together about Milwaukee's Sally Papia and her plot to burn the Northbrook Inn and harm her former chef. It provides additional information on a post I did in 2012 called "The Milwaukee Queen Bee of Organized Crime".
Gary has a unique true crime podcast called "Gangland Wire Crime Stories". Gary and his co-host Aaron Gnirk tell crime stories from Gary's career. He also researches famous Mob investigations and other crimes for content.
Sept, 2016 Gary writes:
I met Gary Magnesen in Las Vegas, he had been assigned to the organized Crime Squad and took part in the investigation of Lefty Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro and the Stardust skim. When I went out to Vegas to interview folks for my film, he cooperated and gave me a great interview. Before I went out, I obtained his book Strawmen in which he tells about his career. I noted a name, Jacob Schlecter and a description 6'6' 250s lbs and a leg breaker mentality. I did a quick check back to a narcotics investigation and surveillance we once did with the DEA and found this was the guy I was thinking of.
I met Gary Magnesen in Las Vegas, he had been assigned to the organized Crime Squad and took part in the investigation of Lefty Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro and the Stardust skim. When I went out to Vegas to interview folks for my film, he cooperated and gave me a great interview. Before I went out, I obtained his book Strawmen in which he tells about his career. I noted a name, Jacob Schlecter and a description 6'6' 250s lbs and a leg breaker mentality. I did a quick check back to a narcotics investigation and surveillance we once did with the DEA and found this was the guy I was thinking of.
To go back, We had a tip and an informant that claimed he could buy weed from a mob guy named Joe Sharpino, who had a tow truck and worked out of a mob associated body shop on Independence Ave. The DEA could find no criminal record on this guy. We checked with the FBI and the Intelligence Unit records and sources and found this guy to be a mystery. The DEA were able to make a few small controlled buys thought the informant. The agent said they would keep offering more money and buying larger quantities and make this guy a big drug dealer. The informant is reporting the guy has some connection with local Italian family, but this family showed no prior organized crime connections, but one of the family members did own this body shop. The guy was an independent tow truck driver who mainly hung around the body shop. The informant was buying more and more weed and laying the groundwork to introduce a female DEA agent in as a big buyer with lots of customers in the suburbs.
We rented a nearby apartment and watched the body shop recording every license number that came and went. No mob guys were showing up. If this was a mob guy, he was not associated with any local mob folks, and if this was his real name, he had no criminal record. The informant would be seen going into the body shop and leaving, then contacting the DEA agent with a story about how Joe Sharpino was going to break somebody's legs that owed the body shop money. I even sent my informant in who was a car repo man. He offered Joe an extra car repossession job that we set up. The guy was suspicious or something because he turned down the job.
After a couple of weeks into this, the informant reported his tow truck driver had a heart attack. He went into St. Luke's hospital for heart surgery. While he was recuperating, the informant relates that he has a Universal Life minister's certificate and the supposedly mob guy wants the informant to marry him and his girlfriend while he is still in the hospital.
After several jokes about how to "wire up" the informant and record the ceremony, we let that go and the informant conducted the ceremony of the target and his new wife. Finally the guy got back to his tow truck and the body shop. The informant makes the introduction to the female agent and she makes her pitch. The guy agrees and claims he can supply 50 pounds of weed. By this time, the DEA has to get the guy identified in order to continue the investigation and put these kinds of resources into it. I ask our Fingerprint Unit supervisor to make personal calls to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) at the FBI headquarters. We had the guy's drivers license record and it showed no arrests. The fingerprint guy noted the license was issued to him at the 811 Grand, KCMO address, then he changed it to his current address. He then checked on the guy's name and date of birth at NCIC and mentioned that fact. You see, that was the address of the Federal Courthouse, the FBI, ATF, US Marshalls office. The NCIC contact could not say exactly, but indirectly, we learned our friend was in the witness protection program. The DEA took this to the US Attorney's office who contacted the Witnesses Protection folks at the US Marshalls. After a consultation and looking at our skimpy case, the US Attorney ordered the DEA to Stand Down. The guy disappeared shortly after.
Which gets me back to the Gary Magnesen book. In that book, he tells a story about one his first cases. His first office was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A girl friend of a Chicago Outfit guy named Frank Buccieri moved up from Chicago and opened a nice restaurant called Sally's Steak House on Juneau Ave. She was described as a raven haired firecracker who thought she was the Queen Bee of Milwaukee Organized Crime because of her Chicago relationship. She hired three local mob associates and professional criminals to help run the place. Chicago outfit guys would come into town and eat there and never pay any respect to the Milwaukee mob boss, Frank Balistrieri or Frankie Bal or Fancy Pants. He called her an Outfit wannabe in a fucking skirt. Sally, the mob moll, hired a chef after she paid for his tuition at a good culinary school. He left shortly after to open his own restaurant, the Northridge Inn. She became enraged and hired a local arsonist to burn it down.
On December 29, 1974, Joseph Basile called Jacob Schlechter, an unindicted co-conspirator, instructed Schlechter to set the Northbrook Inn on fire that night. Schlechter did so in the company of his wife, who later contacted the police and began supplying information concerning the ongoing conspiracy. Following the fire, Schlechter went to Basile's home to collect money for his work. Basile gave Schlechter $100 and told him that another $900 would be forthcoming from out of town. Schlechter asked what the fire was all about, and Basile told him that it was ordered because the chef had "screwed over" Sally Papia and because of a "personal grievance" Basile had against this chef.
On New Year's Eve, two days after the fire, Papia ran into the Chef at a local restaurant. Dropping a lighted match into an ashtray, Papia said, "I told you this was going to happen."
In early January, Schlechter asked Basile for the balance of the money due him for setting the fire. Basile deflected the request by advising Schlechter that they were getting pressure from a Frank Balistrieri, who had lost some juke boxes in the Northbrook Inn fire, and that Schlechter should not tell anyone of his involvement in the fire.
On January 7, Russell Enea approached Schlechter in Papia's restaurant and asked him if he knew anything about the fire. Schlechter, complying with Basile's order to keep mum, said that he did not. Three days later, apparently satisfied that Schlechter could be trusted, Enea again approached Schlechter and directed him to break the Chef's wrists "so he never cooks again." Enea said that "Max" would get in touch with Schlechter to talk about the job. Shortly thereafter, Max Adonnis contacted Schlechter and told him to kidnap the Chef and take him to a garage so that Adonnis and Enea could break his wrists personally. Schlechter and Adonnis then discussed the plan with Herbert Holland, who was to assist in the endeavor. Adonnis explained to Schlechter and Holland that this Chef owed Sally Papia $5,000, that he had "screwed over Sally," and that he wasn't going to get away with it. Adonnis gave Schlechter a slip of paper listing the Chef's address, the make of his car and its license plate number. A week later, Adonnis passed along a photo of the Chef taken in Papia's restaurant on which Papia's handwriting appeared.
During the next couple of weeks, Holland, Schlechter and Adonnis attempted to locate the Chef without success. On January 18, Enea, disturbed by the lack of progress, approached Schlechter and, gesturing with his wrists, inquired what Schlechter was doing about the chef. Schlechter and Holland renewed their efforts to locate the Chef but failed to do so, much to the expressed chagrin of Enea and Adonnis. Finally, Adonnis saw the Chef at a local restaurant and obtained his new address, place of employment and license plate number, which information he passed on to Schlechter with instructions to do the job right away.
After purchasing a baseball bat and two ski masks for use in the battery, Schlechter and Holland went to The Chef's place of employment in the early morning hours of February 9, 1975. While waiting for him to leave work, the two were confronted by police because the auto in which they were riding matched a description of a stolen car.
The Milwaukee police were going to the Chef's apartment. As they arrived at the guy's apartment, they saw two suspicious men cruising the area. They got them stopped and found two baseball bats in the car, two ski masks, the Chef's photo and his address inside the car. They arrested them for CCW and they spent the night in jail. Gary Magnesun and his partner went to the jail the next morning after being notified that one of the suspects wanted to talk to the FBI. This was Jacob Schlecter who was 6'6 250 lbs with a leg breaker's mentality. He was not as tough as he looked. Schlecter agreed to work with the Bureau and set up Sally and her underlings. Soon, he was out of jail and wearing a wire. He was able to record Sally and her co-conspirators talking about this plot to kill or injure the former chef.
During this time Joseph Basile, the guy who originally ordered the arson, was picked up and taken to Fancy Pants. He was livid and told the guy that Sally did not have the clout to approve this arson and he should not have done it without checking with Fancy Pants first.
Jacob Schlecter would testify against Sally Papia and her co-conspirators and they would go to jail for the arson and attempted murder of the Chef. Schelcter would be relocated in the Witness Protection program to Kansas City Missouri, until he got into trouble acting like a mobsters and selling a little weed. he was relocated somewhere else.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Milwaukee Mobster Frank Balistrieri Had Alleged Interest In Gay Bar Pink Glove During Late 1950s
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Article source: http://bitterqueen.typepad.com. Links provided.
The Pink Glove was a wildly popular gay bar in Milwaukee, WI in the late 1950s, and none other than mob boss Frank Balistrieri allegedly had a hidden interest in the watering hole which otherwise was operated by Marvin Klein as license holder who was a brother of suspected mob associates Harold and Bernard. A 1958 FBI report provides the following:
FRANK BALISTRIERI is alleged to have an interest in the "Pink Glove," which is newly opened, a cocktail lounge at 631 North Broadway, and which is operated by [name redacted]. An informant has advised that he has seen an employee of FRANK BALISTRIERI's observe the activities at the "Pink Glove" cocktail lounge and check the cash register and report his findings back to FRANK BALISTRIERI. The informant advised he had no information which indicated that this "Pink Glove" cocktail lounge was a part of a country operation which catered to the "gay crowd." A "gay crowd" is described as individuals who participate in various acts of sexual perversion. It was the understanding of this informant that the "Pink Glove" may be a name used to designate a certain spot in various parts of the country where gay crowds meet.
Balistrieri apparently had interests in straight bars, too, and another 1958 FBI memo alleges he had involvement with the "licenses for the Roosevelt Bar, the Melody Room, the Downtowner Bar, the Tradewinds Lounge and the Knights Tower Bar, all in the city of Milwaukee."
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