February 4, 1965: An informant told SA Alexander LeGrand that there is continuous friction between Balistrieri and the “greaseballs” in the Mafia. They disliked him stemming largely from his bringing in Joe Gurera rather than promoting someone local. The greaseballs included Vito Seidita, Charles Zarcone, Nick Fucarino and Sam Ferrara. Conversely, Balistrieri disliked them because he needed men who could influence public officials. The oldtimers were uneducated and poorly mannered. The ideal man was Joe Alioto, son of John, who had considerable influence with the district attorney and local judges. But Joe died. The informant said William McCauley could be influenced, as could Hugh o’Connell. More often, the Mafia would go through a friend rather than approach a prosecutor or judge directly.
The last week of February 1965, an informant met with Sam Ferrara, and Sam told him that he wanted dynamite put under Frank Balistrieri’s car while he was at work downtown. The dynamite was to be supplied by Ferrara and was to run to the ignition. Ferrara specified the job must be done downtown because he did not wish to hurt Balistrieri’s family. Ferrara told the informant that he could offer Santo Marino to assist with the job.
An informant spoke with the FBI on September 13, 1966 and updated them on the plot against Balistrieri. In the past week, there had been a meeting at John Aiello’s house with Santo Marino, Vito Aiello and the informant present. Marino said he would get a silencer for his .22 in case of protection. The others instructed the informant to get dynamite from some coal mines in the area of LaSalle and Peru, Illinois (south of Rockford). The informant was said to be familiar with this area. He told the FBI he wants no part of this plot, but John Aiello has been “casing” Balistrieri’s movements at night and Vito Aiello and Santo Marino were “pushing” the idea.
April 30, 1967: Nick Fucarino told an informant that he recently met up with Vito Seidita. Seidita, who was supposed to be the consigliere, said he had not seen Frank Balistrieri in six months and was not very happy about this. (When informant passed this on to the FBI, he noted that Fucarino is retired and has money, and honestly does not care if the Family exists or not.)
May 1, 1967: Carlo DiMaggio told an informant that he felt there should be a meeting (the FBI called this a “turno”) of the membership, because no such meeting had occurred in years and the soldiers were out of the loop. This would also be a good time to tell Frank Balistrieri how unsatisfied the older members were with him for his lack of respect. The informant said such a meeting should wait until after Balistrieri’s tax case was resolved, and DiMaggio agreed. When informant passed this on to the FBI, he noted that as far as the general membership was concerned, it was as if there was no Family at all because of how Balistrieri operated.
Joseph Spero spoke to an informant in May 1967 about what he felt should be done about the leadership of the Milwaukee LCN. Spero said a meeting should be called to find a replacement for Balistrieri and to ease Balistrieri out of power. Spero feared Balistrieri was at risk of losing his power due to his tax problems and loss of connection with Chicago. Balistrieri’s biggest supporters in Chicago were Sam Giancana (who had fled the country), Teets Battaglia (in prison) and Felix Alderisio (in prison). The informant passed this on to the FBI on May 16, as well as commenting that recent press coverage debated whether Milwaukee had a Mafia. The informant assured the FBI there was one, and there was one in Madison, too, despite the latter being inactive as far as he knew.
March 13, 1969: An informant said Sam Ferrara and (redacted) were “extremely upset” with Balistrieri’s publicity and believed he needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut.
On August 1, 1969, an informant (possibly August Maniaci) told the FBI that a delegation of nine old timers led by Sam Ferrara was planning to go to Chicago and speak with Tony Accardo. Specifically, they were upset that control of the Milwaukee Family went from John Alioto to Frank Balistrieri, who had never shown them any respect. This was particularly insulting to Ferrara, a former boss. They hoped Accardo could get Balistrieri to change his ways or, better still, force a meeting where the membership could pick a new boss.
August 15, 1969: An informant said that if Balistrieri went to prison, there was a contingent of Mafia members who would travel to Chicago to lobby for a new boss rather than whoever Balistrieri tapped to hold his spot. The group included August Maniaci, Santo Marino, Sam Ferrara, Nick Fucarino and Dominic Gullo.
September 12, 1969: An informant said Sam Ferrara and “several other” Milwaukee mobsters were in favor of going to Chicago and getting Nick Fucarino to replace Balistrieri. Ferrara was quietly going around seeking older members of the Milwaukee family to join him in contacting Chicago boss Tony Accardo. Ferrara’s goal was to convince Accardo that Frank Balistrieri was appointed Milwaukee boss by John Alioto without the rest of the family’s support, and that a meeting should be held to replace Balistrieri and possibly have Milwaukee separate from Chicago. Ferrara believed that Balistrieri was causing friction by giving too much power to Steve DiSalvo. Ferrara was able to gain the support of Joseph Rizzo, Santo Marino, Jerry DiMaggio, Nick Fucarino and August Maniaci. Joseph Spero was on the fence, but could probably have been convinced. Nick Fucarino contacted Carlo Caputo in Madison and had Caputo talk to Tony Accardo and Jack Cerone.
Nick Fucarino is something of an odd choice. He was much older, already in his 70s, and would pass away a few years later. He also had relatively few links to other mob figures through blood or marriage. Perhaps that was seen as a strength? Regardless, it never happened.
October 28, 1969: An informant said Nick Fucarino had a meeting scheduled with Tony Accardo for November 3, at some restaurant on Harlem Avenue in Chicago. Going with Fucarino would be Vito Aiello and August Maniaci. The main topic was who would run Milwaukee when Balistrieri went to prison – the older Mafia members wanted Fucarino in the role. Jack Cerone was also likely to attend. The informant further said he believed the Chicago Outfit did not like Balistrieri suing the FBI, as this only caused more publicity and would bring more grief. (The Milwaukee FBI contacted Chicago and were told the Harlem restaurant was likely Meo’s Norwood at 4750 North Harlem.)
Before the meeting happened, Cerone called Caputo and had him relay the message that the meeting should be postponed, as Balistrieri was soon going to prison and matters could be taken up with the new underboss of Milwaukee. Of course, the Milwaukee old-timers feared that Caminiti would simply defer to Balistrieri, so they were hesitant to approach him.
An informant told the FBI on May 5, 1970 that he had spoken with Vito Seidita, the consigliere. Seidita said he had not been taken into Frank Balistrieri’s confidence and was “personally disgusted” with Balistrieri’s leadership. Seidita said no meetings were held and no one was consulted before Balistrieri made his decisions, where he seemed to be closer to Chicago than his own Family.
July 1, 1971: an informant heard that Sam Ferrara and others discussed the possibility of getting Balistrieri removed as boss now that he was in prison. They decided that because his term was so short, it probably wasn’t worth the effort.
The plot against Balistrieri effectively faded away as the older members died in the 1970s.