Mafia History - The Italian Mob in Milwaukee
A blog focusing on the factual history of the Milwaukee and upper mid-west mob with occasional New York stories. After all, New York was the gateway city and entry point for most all of La Cosa Nostra. All comments and contributions are welcome.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
John Balistrieri Death
Thursday, April 20, 2023
The Beef That Didn't Moo - Wisconsin Ties to the New York Mob!
retrow.wordpress.com |
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.
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
Updated 4/30/2022: The title of this article is written in jest as Alioto's Restaurant on Hwy 100 and Burleigh is an excellent restaurant that we visited for the first, ever, time last week in Wauwatosa. This will be a regular stop for us in the Milwaukee area in the future. We had superb breaded veal cutlet, spaghetti, lasagna and fantastic Italian and garlic bread. There is a lot of interesting "connected" history with the Aliotos. The restaurant has been in the same family for three generations at three successive locations. The original place was founded in 1923 by Giovanni “Papa John” Alioto in the old Milwaukee 3rd Ward. Most Italian immigrants settled that area in the early 1900’s. A bit of fascinating history follows:
“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.
First, another food review: We’ve been back a second time in the past couple weeks. After seeing great reviews of their Friday night fish fry's, we discovered that they were available any time. I ordered the Sicilian Steak and LuAnn the fish fry. I tasted her fish and the Cod was some of the best I’ve ever eaten, delicious! The breaded steak was grilled and sauteed with green pepper, onions and mushrooms. It was fantastic, although I used a steak knife, my medium cooked steak could have been cut with a fork. A side dish of pasta with amazing sauce made an outstanding meal. Everything we’ve had so far has been great, with reasonable prices and very attentive service. We had a couple glasses of the house red wine which was also excellent. With real tablecloth and linen napkins, the atmosphere is great and we can’t wait to get back there.Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, is “The Rest of the Story”: You have to dig pretty deep for information as “Papa John” Alioto kept a very low profile, and was careful, shunning publicity for good reason. He was deeply connected to the Milwaukee Mafia and actually was the Milwaukee godfather from 1952 until 1961, when he handed over the reins to his son-in-law Frank Balistrieri. Frank married one of Papa John’s daughters (Nina) in the late 1950’s.
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
The following comment submitted this week by an anonymous contributor concerning my Sally Papia - A life lived on the edge post. Great insight and my response follows:
"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
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.
This story ran in the September 2011 issue of: |
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Milwaukee Leg Breaker
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.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Milwaukee Mobster Frank Balistrieri Had Alleged Interest In Gay Bar Pink Glove During Late 1950s
jsonline.com |