The Milwaukee Crime Family, Balistrieri Crime Family, or Milwaukee Mafia is an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activ ...

based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

.Peter J. Devico ''The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra.'
(pg.154-156)
/ref> The crime family was considered a branch of the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...

. The family's most influential boss was Frank "Mr. Big" Balistrieri, who was greatly involved in the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

skimming

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

s.United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Searches Conducted on March 8, 1980
Today, the crime family is nearly extinct, since Balistrieri died in 1993, with the Chicago Outfit gaining control over some of the illegal rackets in the area.Jay C. Ambler

(2000) Rick Porrello's American Mafia.com

Historical leadership

Boss (official and acting)

* 1918–1921 — Vito Guardalabene — died on February 6, 1921 from natural causes. * 1921–1927 — Peter Guardalabene — the son of Vito Guardalabene * 1927 — Joseph Amato — died of natural causes on March 28, 1927. * 1927–1949 — Joseph Vallone — retired from the rackets in 1949 and died of natural causes on March 18, 1952. * 1949–1952 — Sam Ferrara — in 1952 he was voted out by his family and members of the

forced him to step down. * 1952–1961 — John Alioto — trained his son-in-law Frank Balistrieri. * 1961–1993 — Frank Balistrieri — imprisoned March 1967-June 1971. In the late 1970s, with his two sons Joseph and John worked with ''Bonanno crime family'' capo Michael Sabella. He was imprisoned from 1983-1991 for his involvement in Las Vegas skim racket. He died of natural causes on February 7, 1993. ** ''Acting'' 1967–1971 — Joseph Balistrieri Sr. — Frank's son and capo, became underboss in 1993. ** ''Acting'' 1983–1993 — Peter Balistrieri — Frank Balistrieri's brother and

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

. * 1993–1997 — Peter Balistrieri — he died of natural causes on August 17, 1997 * 1997–2014 — Joseph Caminiti — he served as Frank Balistrieri's ''consigliere''; died in January 2014. * 2014–present — Peter "Pitch" Picciurro

Underboss

*1927–1949 — Steven "Steve" DiSalvo — demoted in 1949, retired in the 1980s, deceased in the 1990s. *1952–1961 — Joseph Gumina — moved to Kansas City, deceased in the 1970s. *1961–1993 — Peter Balistrieri — became boss. *1993–2010 — Joseph "Joey Bal" Balistrieri Sr. — Frank's son, deceased in 2010.

Consigliere

*1927–1952 — Vito Seidita — stepped down, retired in 1971, deceased in 1978. *1952–1961 — Carmelo "Charles" Zarcone — demoted in 1961, deceased in 1969. *1961–1997 — Joseph "Joe Camel" Caminiti — became boss. *1997–2014 — Peter "Pitch" Picciurro — became boss. *2014–present — John "Johnny Bal" Balistrieri

Current members

After the death of Frank Balistrieri, the Chicago Outfit has taken control of the Milwaukee illegal rackets. The Chicago Outfit had represented the Milwaukee family on the American Mafia Commission

Administration

*Boss — Peter "Pitch" Picciurro — the owner of Pitch’s Lounge and Restaurant and blood relative to Frank Balistrieri. The son of Milwaukee mobster John J. Picciurro and cousin to Frank and Peter Balistrieri. *Consigliere — John "Johnny Bal" Balistrieri — is the son of Frank Balistrieri the former boss of the Milwaukee family. John served as lawyer until 1984, when his license was suspended and he was later disbarred. In August 2014, John Balistrieri's application to get reinstate his law license was rejected by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects crime boss' son John Balistrieri bid to practice law
Journal Sentinel, August 12, 2014

Soldiers

*Aaron "Blue Eyes" Getrieri – operates a loan sharking operation in nearby

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States in the Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeast ...

Notes

External links

American Gangland: Balistrieri Crime FamilyMilwaukee Mafia
{{Unreliable source, certain=y, reason=Lacks information to confirm source., date=January 2022 Italian-American crime families Italian-American culture in Wisconsin Crime in Milwaukee Gangs in Wisconsin