Frank Balistrieri was the boss of the Milwaukee mafia back in 1984 when him and his two sons John Balistrieri and Joseph Balistrieri were caught in an FBI sting. They were caught in an attempted extortion scheme involving the Milwaukee vending machine business. Both his son’s Joseph and John were attorney’s at the time were both disbarred after being convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. They both ended up doing five years after blaming their misdeeds on their mobster father and his association with organized crime.
“Frank Balistrieri (center) and his sons”
Frank Balistrieri died back in 1993 and his son Joseph in 2010. John Balistrieri has been fighting since his release to regain his law license but was once again turned down by the Wisconsin Supreme court. They noted answers given back during a 2002 deposition by John which they described as flippant and said he was not accepting responsibility for his previous crimes. He is now willing to admit there was a conviction but still maintains that he did nothing wrong according to court documents.
The Milwaukee mafia today is all but extinct since the death of its long time boss Frank back in 93. The Milwaukee mob family was always considered to be a branch of the Chicago Outfit and it is believed that once Frank passed The Outfit moved back in and controls what is left of the local rackets. Peter “Pitch” Picciurro is considered to be the “boss” of what is left of the Milwaukee crime family keeping what remains in line for the Chicago Mafia leadership.
John Balistrieri was believed to have held rank of consigliere for the Milwaukee mob and may still but those claims are unsubstantiated and he maintains he has no ties to the mafia.
