d. Milwaukee, Aug. 16, 1997.
As boss Frank Balistrieri headed off to prison for a long sentence in 1984, his brother Peter Frank Balistrieri took temporary control of crime family operations.
Frank and Peter were sons of Milwaukee Mafioso Joseph Balistrieri, a native of the Town of Aspra, near Santa Flavia and Bagheria in Palermo Province, Sicily. During his brother's reign as boss, Peter served as a capodecina over a younger Milwaukee Mafia faction.
Frank Balistrieri and his two sons, Joseph P. Balistrieri and John J. Balistrieri, were convicted of extortion in 1984. Frank was sentenced to thirteen years in prison and a $30,000 fine. His sons were sentenced to eight years, later reduced to five years.
Peter Balistrieri presided over a period of great decline in the Milwaukee Mafia. Frank was released from prison in 1991 and died two years later. Peter died in 1997.
Sources:
- "Balistrieri given 13 years," Oshkosh WI Northwestern, May 30, 1984, p. 3.
- "Balistrieri goes to grave denying being mob boss," Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Feb. 8, 1993, p. 2.
- "Feds clean up union," Oshkosh WI Northwestern, Aug. 25, 1996, p. 15.
- "Genealogy search," Archdiocese of Milwaukee Catholic Cemeteries, cemeteries.org.
- Joseph Balistrieri Naturalization Petition, U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin, Vol. 111, No. 15152, Certificate no. 5199880, filed May 20, 1941, approved July 17, 1941.
- Le Grand, Alexander P., "La Cosa Nostra," FBI report, file no. 92-6054-640, NARA no. 124-10287-10189, May 28, 1964.
- Reed, Carlyle N., "La Cosa Nostra," FBI report, file no. 92-6054-2105, NARA no. 124-10293-10341, Sept. 11, 1967.
- Schmitt, Gavin, Milwaukee Mafia: Images of America, Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2012.
- Schmitt, Gavin, The Milwaukee Mafia, Fort Lee NJ: Barricade Books, 2014.
- Social Security Death Index, 388-18-0128, died Feb. 7, 1993.
United States Census of 1920, Wisconsin, County of Milwaukee, City of Milwaukee, Enumeration District 42.