The Balistrieri Tapes, Part 6: "Top mobster Bonanno visited Balistrieri to discuss problems"
“The Balistrieri Tapes” was a twelve-part series originally published in the Milwaukee Sentinel beginning October 31, 1988. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is republishing select excerpts from the series.
Frank Balistrieri died in 1993 and his son Joseph Balistrieri died in 2010. His son John Balistrieri was released from prison in 1989, after the publication of this series. In 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied John Balistrieri’s request to reinstate his law license despite the recommendation of a court-appointed referee who said his conduct had been exemplary since his release.
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One of the top mobsters in America had problems that included Frank P. Balistrieri, and their dispute caused such bad feelings that the two men finally met in Milwaukee to discuss it.
Balistrieri’s attitude was: "I run my town as I see fit."
In the 1960s, the sensational difficulties of crime boss Joseph Bonanno were on front pages of newspapers across the country.
Bonanno, known as Joe Bananas, was a rugged-looking, handsome New Yorker who picked up his suntans in Arizona and had an empire that reportedly had interests on several continents.
The government was after Bonanno, and so were other mobsters. Bonanno was reported kidnapped and murdered, but he showed up mysteriously after being gone for 18 months.
He came to Milwaukee in 1964 to talk to Balistrieri about a dispute between members of the two families during the turmoil before his disappearance.
But prior to that meeting, Balistrieri, head of organized crime here, met with a man identified as Pete, a soldier in the Bonanno family.
Balistrieri was upset with a relative of Pete, a member of the Bonanno family who had been causing Balistrieri problems. The dispute had gone on for nearly two years, which Balistrieri felt was disrespectful to him.
The FBI secretly taped the meeting. The dispute was the first matter of business:
Balistrieri: "First, we'll take up Mr. Bonanno's matter. Last time we were here, I was called to Chicago and told to do something with Mr. Bonanno. “
"Well, I'm both disturbed and disappointed. ... See, I represent the family here, and there's a certain dissatisfaction with your brother-in-law, and naturally in Milwaukee the family comes first and everybody else is secondary. He could be my own brother, and if he doesn't go along with the rules, if he doesn’t follow what the family dictates, then I can't help him either...”
"But your brother-in-law hasn't respected nobody ever since he’s been in Milwaukee. He’s done very well for himself. He has completely disregarded everybody, (and) anybody ... pertaining to the· family, he has been aloof from. So, naturally, we – I granted permission to give this man a warning, and Mr. Bonanno interceded ....
"And, at that time, I most courteously granted Mr. Bonanno the favor of, er, forgetting what had been started, with the understanding that I would be available to Mr. Bonanno at any place to talk again.
"Because, I mean, I never fight with Tucson, with New York…” Bonanno had homes in New York and Tucson.
Balistrieri continued: "In your brother-in-law's case, I think that maybe since he got a clearance, his attitude, er, his demeanor is even worse than it was before. He completely disregarded everybody.
"I’d be right here all night telling you things that he done, and I got quite disturbed about it. So I called Mr. DiBella. As a matter of fact, we had two or three conversations with Mr. DiBella."
[According to the FBI transcript of the meeting, Balistrieri was referring to John DiBella, who was in charge of the Grande Cheese Co. in Fond du Lac. DiBella was said to be "a very close friend" of Bonanno.]
[Bonanno’s wife, Faye, held 150 shares of stock in Grande Cheese at the time, but there was no indication if the cheese firm was at issue in the dispute. ]
[In a conversation taped after the meeting with Pete, Balistrieri said, "That cheese company in Fond du Lac ... belongs to Milwaukee, and it's under my jurisdiction."
[Officials said there was no indication that the current management of Grande Cheese was involved in organized crime.]
Balistrieri continued his talk with Pete: "I'm sure that Mr. Bonanno doesn’t want our family being mistreated here in Milwaukee.... First of all, I mean being a family matter, I’m sure Mr. Bonanno has got enough intestinal fortitude to take the message.
"He said that if Mr. Bonanno can't handle the situation, that either he or his caporegime (a boss) – it's my understanding that Bill (Bonanno's son) is his caporegime – would take the matter Into consideration and that they would give me some satisfaction.
As a result of Balistrieri's contacts with members of the Bonanno family concerning the dispute, he told Pete, "I marvel that you come here without any knowledge of what is going on. I'm completely disturbed. And I don't think that this family deserves such treatment.”
"Now, I think I was very courteous; I think I was very generous in waiting this time.... And I think that the time is getting short on people's part."
Pete thanked Balistrieri for his courtesy. He said that Bonanno had had numerous problems recently. Pete also apologized for being unable to go into details involving Pete's brother-in-law and "give you the satisfaction that you deserve."
Balistrieri: "Well, I want you to understand this now. I really am disturbed. I think I deserve better treatment than that.... I run my family as I see fit. We made that friendship with you and I."
Pete: "It was in your father-in-law’s place. I said to you that everything was straightened out and don't worry ... and we thank you. I told my brother-in-law what I had to tell him. To go in a straight line.”
“That’s all the details I can tell you because ... (someone) would say to me, 'You're not a caporegime, you’re not a consigliere (counselor), you're not a boss.' Because I'm a soldier. You know that."
Balistrieri: "Nobody is going to tell me how to run my family. I mean the reason that I might have done something and then a guy could say, ’Well, Jesus Christ!’ You know what I mean? ... That's awful dangerous.
"I think that's not right to send, er, when I make a statement and then they misbehave. Then suppose I would have taken action?"
Pete: "If I had a title I could take the responsibility. But as I am I can't settle anything."
Balistrieri: "The family comes first, Pete... I mean since he left here the last time he just don't give a good god damn for nobody. He conducts himself even worse than what he has done before. His attitude hasn't changed. He's not bigger than us. We're not going to permit that. I'm sure Mr. Bonanno doesn't want that to happen in my town.
"I was willing to go to meet him (Bonanno). I was willing to abide my time. I’m sorry now, l did waste this much time. I think it’s a sign of disrespect that when I give a message, that I have no answer. Now I’m sure if there was one of us that wasn't looking for friendship then I would have taken different action.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is the end. ... I run my town as I see fit. That’s it. I don’t mean to be stern. I don't mean to give any ultimatums. But this thing has been going on too long without any satisfaction. I bent over backward to be nice, and I think I have been disrespected.”
Pete: "Frank, for me I can't take this sort of thing up because it's not up to me, you know what I mean?"
Balistrieri and Pete argued over who was in charge, who was the caporegime, the captain, the "head pants," as Pete called him.
Balistrieri: "As far as me hanging and waiting for Mr. Joe Bonanno to get ready to talk to me, I don't think I'm too receptive to that."
Another man ln the room said: "I think you should wait for Mr. Bonanno, Frank."
Balistrieri: "I got troubles. Nobody has more troubles than I have. I feel very disturbed .... I'll tell you something, Pete. Your brother-in-law is in trouble over here!
"These messages aren't carried out the way they're supposed to do. I mean, that's pretty dangerous."
Pete: "I'm 61 years old. If I'd worry about these dangers I'd go and drown myself. I got my superiors. I can’t go over their heads .... "
After Pete left the meeting, Balistrieri said that if Bonanno came to talk to him he would refer him to a meeting with Chicago mobsters.
However, at a later meeting that was also tape recorded, Balistrieri reported that Bonanno had stopped in Milwaukee to see him.
Mentioning that Bonanno was at "Angelo's house," Balistrieri said: "He made no gesture to talk to me. He just kept on talking and then it got late.”
"We went in like a little room and Mr. Bonanno talked for at least 20 minutes. He told us everything, but what we wanted to talk about. After he spoke 20 minutes, Mr. Bonanno said 'I never use the word tired, but I'm tired from speaking so long.'
"I said, 'You’ve been speaking for four hours and now that I wanted to say something, you're tired.' ... I said, 'I'm not satisfied.'
"'Well,' he says, 'I'm tired. I’d like to postpone this thing until another time.’ ... He don't want to talk about it. I gotta go back to Chicago and tell them what happened, see? When I go back and tell Chicago what happened they don't like it too much."
[Bonanno eventually was removed from the national commission of the Mafia as a result of his independent attitude, according to federal officials. Sam Giancana, who was on the commission, was the mob boss in Chicago and Balistrieri's boss.]
Referring to Bonanno Balistrieri said, "Under the circumstances he didn't fool me, nor was I impressed by him. However, the respect that you pay a boss and the courtesy. I gave it to him .... "
"He showed me power, and I showed him respect."
Meeting adjourned; further meetings at the call of the chair.
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Read the next selected excerpt: The Balistrieri Tapes, Part 8: "Microphones gave FBI a chair at Balistrieri's table"
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Balistrieri Tapes, Part 6: "Top mobster Bonanno visited Balistrieri to discuss problems"
