External links
- American Gangland: Balistrieri Crime Family
- Dieland: The Milwaukee Family
- Milwaukee Mafia [ unreliable source ]
| Founded | c. 1918 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Vito Guardalabene |
| Founding location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| Years active | c. 1918–present |
| Territory | Primarily the Milwaukee metropolitan area, with additional territory throughout Wisconsin as well as Las Vegas |
| Ethnicity | Italians as "made men" and other ethnicities as associates |
| Activities | Skimming, gambling, narcotics, racketeering, murder, extortion, prostitution, bookmaking, bribery, and loan sharking |
| Allies | |
| Rivals | Various gangs in the Milwaukee area |
The Milwaukee crime family, also known as the Balistrieri crime family or the Milwaukee Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [1] The crime family was considered a branch of the Chicago Outfit. The family's most influential boss was Frank "Mr. Big" Balistrieri, who was greatly involved in the Las Vegas skimming casinos. [2] 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. [3]
After the death of Frank Balistrieri, the Chicago Outfit has taken control of the Milwaukee illegal rackets. [9] The Chicago Outfit had represented the Milwaukee family on the American Mafia Commission
The Havana Conference of 1946 was a historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout US crime families during the ensuing decades.
The Chicago Outfit is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, which originated in the city's South Side in 1910. The organization is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia.
John Philip Cerone, nicknamed Jackie the Lackey, was an American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit during the late 1960s. He was the younger brother of mobster Frank "Skippy" Cerone, father of lawyer John Peter Cerone, and husband to the late Clara Cerone.
The Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese, sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown", was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of the Mafia in the United States, an offshoot of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily. From 1951 until 1967, he was the boss of the Lucchese crime family, one of the Five Families that dominate organized crime in New York City.
This article is about events in organized crime in 1984.
The Cleveland crime family, also known as the Scalish crime family or the Cleveland Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Cleveland, Ohio and throughout the Greater Cleveland area. The organization formed during the 1900s, and early leadership turned over frequently due to a series of power grabs and assassinations. In 1930, Frank Milano became boss and was able to bring some stability to the family. Under the control of the family's longest-serving boss, John T. Scalish, who led the organization from 1945 until his death in 1976, the Cleveland Mafia exerted influence over the Teamsters union, profiting from labor racketeering and the skimming of revenue from Las Vegas casinos. The family's membership peaked at around 60 "made men" during the 1950s.
Jack Ignatius Dragna was a Sicilian-American Mafia member, entrepreneur and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 20th century. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States. In 1931, he succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as the boss of the Los Angeles crime family after Ardizzone's mysterious disappearance and death. Both James Ragen and Earl Warren dubbed Dragna the "Capone of Los Angeles". Dragna remained the boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1931 until his death in 1956.
Frank Peter Balistrieri was the crime boss of the Milwaukee crime family from 1961 to 1993. He was a central figure in the skimming of Las Vegas casinos during the 1970s and 1980s, and served several prison sentences.
The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family, the Todaro crime family, the New York State crime family, the Buffalo Mafia, the Upstate New York Mafia, and The Arm, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Buffalo, New York. Criminal investigators assert that the family operates throughout Western New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Buffalo family is purported to hold strong connections with the Hamilton-based Luppino and Papalia families. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the current boss of the Buffalo crime family is Joseph A. "Big Joe" Todaro Jr., having assumed the role after his father, Joseph E. "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr., retired.
The Detroit Partnership is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Detroit, Michigan. The family mainly operates in the Greater Detroit area, as well as in other locations including Windsor, Ontario, Toledo, Ohio and Las Vegas.
The Kansas City crime family, also known as the Civella crime family, the Kansas City Mafia or the Clique, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Kansas City, Missouri.
The St. Louis crime family, also known as the Giordano crime family or St. Louis Mafia, was an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, and dubbed "the Mickey Mouse Mafia" by former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Angeles crime family gained wealth and power through bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition era. The L.A. family reached its peak strength in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Dragna, although the family was never larger than the New York or Chicago families. The Los Angeles crime family itself has been on a gradual decline, with the Chicago Outfit representing them on The Commission since the death of boss Jack Dragna in 1956.
The San Jose crime family, also known as the Cerrito crime family or San Jose Mafia, was one of the two families that controlled organized crime in San Jose, California, within the nationwide criminal organization known as the Mafia. The other family that ran organized crime in San Jose was the Bonanno crime family of New York.
Nicolo "Cola" Schiro was an early Sicilian-born New York City mobster who, in 1912, became the boss of what later become known as the Bonanno crime family.
