Grande Cheese’s Mafia-connected Origins

According to federal investigators, the Grande Cheese Company of Fond du Lac “was born out of a Chicago gang war in 1939”. Chicago mobster Ross Prio is credited with starting the business in 1941 with a $30,000 capital investment.

Grande Cheese was connected to several criminal investigations both in Wisconsin and beyond (Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, California, Canada) at least up through 1980. Illegal immigration, tax fraud, extortion, drug smuggling, and even – very loosely – the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa!

Grande Cheese 

Grande was formally incorporated in Illinois on March 22, 1941.

In 1949, Grande Cheese moved its offices to Fond du Lac. 

1963: “Network of Organized Crime” Declared

In January 1963, Wisconsin Governor John W. Reynolds claimed that a “network of organized crime” existed in Fond du Lac, Milwaukee and Kenosha counties, the center of Wisconsin’s Italian cheese industry. Governor Reynolds also claimed there was “an invasion of the cheese industry by gangsters who maintain connections with crime syndicates across the nation.”

The governor listed off four murder victims who he believed were connected to Grande Cheese in Fond du Lac: Thomas Oneglia, James DeAngelo, Onofrio Vitale, and Vincent Benevento. He also noted that LeRoy Sommers, president of the Full Cream Cheese Company, died under mysterious circumstances. 

On February 1, 1963, Grande Cheese President, John DiBella, and Vice President, Al Caruso, walked into police headquarters with a briefcase full of records, contracts and receipts. DiBella offered to open his books to Police Chief James Cahill and District Attorney Thomas Massey to end speculation of illicit activity. The conversation lasted about 20 minutes.

DiBella and Caruso returned on February 13 with their attorney, Dominic Frinzi, to meet with District Attorney Thomas Massey, Sheriff Raymond Howard, Assistant Police Chief Harold Rautenberg, Police Captain Willard Galow, and LeRoy Dalton and George Schwahn of the state attorney general’s office. DiBella said he was “fed up” with Governor Reynolds and denied knowing any of the murdered men in Chicago. He was shown photographs of Milwaukee mobsters Joseph Gurera and Steve DiSalvo, and denied knowing them.

Thomas Oneglia

Thomas Oneglia was a Grande Cheese principal stock holder.

On December 6, 1943, Oneglia was shot to death while being shaved in a barber’s chair. Two men burst into Charlie’s Barber Shop on the north side of Chicago, and killed Oneglia while his face was half-shaved, and covered in lather. Police Captain John O’Malley said the gunmen fired five or six bullets into Oneglia’s head, and the revolvers were left at the scene — one on the floor, the other on Oneglia’s body. 

The other barber on scene, Dominic Teister, said that the two gunmen didn’t say a word, and they knew who they were looking for and what they intended to do.

Police said that Oneglia was part legitimate, involved in the Public Parking Company, but he was also suspected of being involved in vice operations. Oneglia allegedly made more than $1,000,000 in black market cheese sales and was involved in the city’s expanding illicit liquor trade.

The coroner opened Oneglia’s safe deposit box; nothing connecting him to criminal activity was found, but they did find 83 shares of Grand Cheese stock, $5000 in cash, $10,000 worth of diamonds and a 2.5-carat diamond ring. 

James DeAngelo

James DeAngelo went missing on February 24, 1944. 

After an anonymous call from someone claiming to see four men stuff a body into a trunk, DeAngelo’s corpse was found in the trunk of his car on March 11, 1944. The car had been parked in from of a Chicago hotel for two weeks.

DeAngelo’s body had been beaten, with kicks to the stomach and a fractured skull, and wrapped up in a clothesline. A noose was around his neck. On his person was $15, a ring and a watch. Police Lieutenant Kyran Phelan said that the murder was one of the most brutal he had investigated in 20 years of police work. He said that DeAngelo had been tortured each day for several days.

The coroner believed DeAngelo had been dead ten to twelve days when found, and was probably alive when he was placed in the trunk. Police speculated that DeAngelo was involved in a gangland war over profits from black market government-rationed cheese. 

Onofrio Vitale

Onofrio Vitale was employed by Grande Cheese as a cheesemaker, and went missing February 25, 1944, the day after DeAngelo did. Vitale had told his wife, Stella, that he was going to a meeting with DeAngelo. Vitale and DeAngelo were close friends, with Vitale being the godfather of DeAngelo’s daughter. The Vitale family did not report Vitale missing until March 4, telling police, “I just figured he’d come home.”

Over a year since he disappeared, Onofrio Vitale’s body was found stuffed in a sewer on April 5, 1945 by a city employee who was investigating complaints of a clogged sewer.  Vitale had died from a fractured skull, his body was beaten and tied up with a heavy rope. His remains were identified by a dentist who had done his bridgework. Ann Vitale, Vitale’s daughter, was able to identify her father by his clothing. 

Vincent Benevento

Vincent “The Dude” Benevento was a former partner of Oneglia and DeAngelo.

On December 28, 1945, while in the back room of his store, he was shot five times. Police said it was a murder attempt, while Benevento insisted it was a botched robbery.

Searching Benevento’s apartment for clues, police discovered a Thompson submachine gun, eight shotguns, six rifles, eight revolvers and pistols, 2500 rounds of ammunition and a fake machine gun. Also found were forty suits, several dozen hats, 100 shirts and 20 pairs of shoes. When asked about the guns, Benevento said he had the weapons because he liked to hunt.

Benevento was murdered September 21, 1946 at a cabin three miles south of Lake Zurich, where he had been with his wife for several months after hiding in St. Louis and Oklahoma. The Beneventos were asleep in their bed when two men battered the door and opened fire. Police suspected these were the same men who had previously tried to kill Benevento. He was shot six times in the back and neck with a .45 as he tried to flee, his wife huddled against the wall, physically unharmed. 

LeRoy Sommers

On May 22, 1962, LeRoy Sommers, President of Full Cream Cheese Company, was found dead in his partially-burned car on a rural Fond du Lac County road. The car had a hose running from the tailpipe to the window, and signs pointed to suicide by carbon monoxide. It was noted that Sommers’ body was burned by heat, and the front sections of the car showed the effects of extreme heat. Authorities explained the heat by stating that Sommers’ foot likely pressed down on the accelerator causing the car’s motor to overheat.

A coroner’s jury found Sommers’ death to be a suicide, but his wife continued to claim that Sommers was murdered. She asked for an autopsy even though her husband’s body had been embalmed. The results came back inconclusive.

State crime lab director Charles Wilson explained that the Sommers case was “a good example of an autopsy that was bungled. By the time we got into it everything was snafued.” Sommers’ body had been embalmed and had to be exhumed, leaving only what Wilson described as 10% of the possible evidence. Their best guess was the death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Sommers’ wife suspected foul play, noting allegations he was connected to narcotics and might have been making payoffs to questionable figures. Payoffs to who and what they were for are unknown. It is speculated that the payoffs may have been for market privileges if the mafia controlled the cheese market.

Federal Narcotics Bureau agents investigated allegations that Sommers had sent cheese to California, which was then re-shipped to the east coast with narcotics concealed inside. In January 1963, the investigation was discontinued due to lack of findings related to the allegations.

Sources

A significantly longer, thoroughly documented article regarding the mafia’s connection to cheese appeared in Informer magazine in 2012.  The sources from that article can be found at the bottom of this post.

In addition to the Informer piece, an even longer version remains unpublished and is available upon request.

“$1,000,000 in Liquor Returned to Owners,” New York Evening Post, July 15, 1921.
“2 Murder Indictments Returned by Grand Jury,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 29, 1922.

1. “2 Start Serving Terms For Prignano Slaying,” Rockford Register- Republic, December 21, 1938.
2. “30 Days For Still Runner,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 18, 1935.
3. 635 F.2d 1272 Candela v. United States (1980)
4. “Agents Eye Guests at Funeral,” Appleton Post-Crescent, September 6, 1964.
5. “A. J. Prignano Assassinated on Doorstep,” Rockford Register- Republic, December 30, 1935.
6. Appleton Post-Crescent, March 21, 1965.
7. “Bars Foreign Rum From U.S. Ports,” New York Times, October 22, 1921.
8. “Black Mart Rivalry Seen,” Omaha Morning World-Herald, March 13, 1944.
9. “Body Identified, Death Linked to Black Mart,” Omaha Sunday World-Herald, April 8, 1945.
10. “Body of Gun Victim Found,” Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque), March 14, 1944.
11. Bonanno, Joseph, A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2003
12. “Building Wrecked By Blast, 10 Saved,” New York Evening Post, April 7, 1931.
13. “Bystander Killed, 2 Shot, in Alleged Bootleggers Feud,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 13, 1922.
14. “Carries Woman, 60, to Safety at Tenement Fire,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 7, 1931.
15. “Cassese is Freed Again in Rum Case,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 4, 1928.
16. “Chicago Hoodlum Slain Near Busy Loop Corner,” Rockford Regis- ter-Republic, January 5, 1946.
17. “Chicago man slain while in barber chair,” Sheboygan Press, Dec. 6, 1943, p. 1.
18. “Drop Indictment Against Cassese,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 21, 1933.
19. FBI File 92-CV-748
20. FBI File 92-MI-136
21. FBI file 92-MW-136 (John Vincenzo DiBella)
22. FBI File 92-MW-262
23. FBI File 92-MW-371 (Frank LaGalbo)
24. FBI Files 92-NY-2300
25. FBI File 92-SF-180 (Angelo Marino)
26. “Fix $2000 Bail for Cassesse in Night Club Raid,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 27, 1930.
27. Gores, Stan, “DiBella Lived at Hotel, Headed Grande Cheese Firm,” Fond du Lac Reporter, March 12, 1966.
28. “Grande’s heritage,” Grande Cheese Company website, www.grande.com (accessed June 20, 2012).
29. “Gunmen Batter Down Door of Tourist Cabin,” Rockford Register Republic, September 21, 1946.
30. “Gunmen Kill Man in Barber Chair,” Daytona Beach Morning Journal, December 7, 1943.
31. “Held in Still Raid,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 9, 1935.
32. “Italian Baker to have Examination,” Grand Rapids Press, Deceber 3, 1913.
33. “Jewelry Thief Shot to Death,” Milwaukee Journal, December 18, 1943.
34. “Joseph Russo’s Life Again is Threatened,” Grand Rapids Press, November 6, 1914.
35. “Judge Aids Hunt For Rum Ring Head,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 26, 1928.
36. “Judge Decides to Increase the Bond,” Grand Rapids Press, March 5, 1913.
37. “Kitten Basks on Macaroni Dough,” Grand Rapids Press, December 2, 1913.
38. Legal notices, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 7, 1920
39. Milwaukee Sentinel, March 16, 1974.
40. “Mission & culture,” Grande Cheese Company website, www.grande.com (accessed June 20, 2012).
41. “Mistrial Called in Piazza Case; Reason a Secret,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 13, 1923.
42. “Original Trouble Man Is One G. Russo,” Grand Rapids Press, March 8, 1913.
43. Pennsylvania Crime Commission, “A Report of the Study of Organized Crime’s Infiltration of the Pizza and Cheese Industry,” March 1980.
44. Petition for Citizenship number 110333.
45. “Quiz Girl in Trunk Slaying,” Rockford Register, March 13, 1944.
46. “Raiders to Return $1,000,000 Liquors,” New York Times, July 15, 1921.
47. “Russo Children Now Safe in Sunny Italy,” Grand Rapids Press, November 5, 1914.
48. “Russo Is Held in Fire Investigation,” Grand Rapids Press February 27, 1917.
49. “Sends His Baby Daughter Back to Old Country,” Grand Rapids Press September 24, 1914.
50. “Silent on Still’s Owner, Youth May Be Deported,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 24, 1928.
51. “State, U.S. Authorities Intensify Investigation of DiBella Fortune,” Appleton Post-Crescent, March 21, 1965.
52. “Suspect Black Hand Fired Russo Store,” Grand Rapids Press, February 26, 1917.
53. “Talked in the Town,” Grand Rapids Press, March 5, 1917.
54. “Tax Charge Cites Head of Grande,” Milwaukee Sentinel, March 16, 1974.
55. Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque), March 14, 1944.
56. “Tenants in Flight as Still Explodes,” New York Evening Post, Octo- ber 10, 1927.
57. “‘The Dude’ Gets Shot in His Cheese Factory,” Rockford Register- Republic, December 29, 1945.
58. “Two Accused of Black Hand Plot Go on Trial,” Grand Rapids Press, December 1, 1914.
59. “Two Gunmen Kill Man as He Sits in Barber Chair,” Rockford Morning Star, December 7, 1943.
60. “U.S. Hunts Cassese Again on Charge of Running Huge Still,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 30, 1928.
61. United States Census of 1920 and 1930
62. White, Bob. “How Mafia ties derailed cheese plant bonds”, Modesto Bee, June 19, 1983.
63. Wieghart, James G., “DiBella’s Wake Awes Fond du Lac,” Milwaukee Sentinel, September 5, 1964.
64. Wieghart, James G. “Fond du Lac Probe Set”, Milwaukee Sentinel, January 28, 1963.