Sam J. Cefalu (1606 North Jackson) incorporated the Commercial Sales Corporation on January 28, 1964 with an address of 2559 North Downer (the site of Balistrieri’s new Continental Music Company). Cefalu was president, and Paul Bogosian was vice president and treasurer. The stated purpose of the business was to sell carpeting. In reality, this company was created to help finance Continental’s sales because of Bogosian’s good credit. By the end of the year, the business would cease to exist, and would be in trouble with the state for failure to pay sales and use taxes.
In February 1964, Sam Dentice worked at Angelo’s Pizza (16 and Wells), operated by Mike Albano. Dentice was also now the name attached to the jukebox business with money fronted by Frank Balistrieri. With Dentice was Gus Chiaverotti, who had purchased $18,000 worth of jukeboxes recently on the account of Continental Music, which had an address of 1634 North Jackson.
March 9, 1964: FBI agents installed a microphone (646-C) at 2559 North Downer Avenue, the site of Frank Balistrieri’s new Continental Music Company. The company did not have routes of its own, but instead bought AMI jukeboxes and pool tables from Pioneer Vending (formerly owned by Herman Paster). The sales were financed through Allied Building Credit Company (2100 West Atkinson). The jukebox license was under Sam Dentice’s name, and he had purchased the license from Felice Cortese of the Cortese Phonograph Company (1633 West Juneau), whose license was inactive. This microphone would be active for just over one year. (Milwaukee ordinance said anyone could buy and sell jukeboxes, but a route could not be owned by anyone with a tavern license – if Balistrieri wanted to collect from machines and not just sell them, he needed a front.)
Continental Music had its grand opening on April 1.
April 3, 1964: Frank Balistrieri spoke with Teamsters secretary Joseph Caminiti about their $100 contributions to various candidates for alderman (Allen Calhoun, Vel Phillips and Charlie Quirk). Caminiti told Balistrieri that “next time you can tell these people you’ve got the Teamsters backing you 100%” Money was also paid to Senator Morse and Congressman Alvin O’Konski. Mayor Maier was given $100 worth of stamps, and Balistrieri said he gave Maier’s opponent, Art Else, some money because he was an economics professor at UW-Milwaukee and “you never know” what he might do in the future. Else had apparently come into Gallagher’s asking for donations, and
Balistrieri gave him some money in cash so it would not have to be declared. Balistrieri boasted that he helped get Harold Breier the job of police chief, which seems to have no basis in reality.
Caminiti also spoke of his dislike for Bobby Kennedy and believed that under President Johnson, the wiretaps would decrease. He feared, however, that Johnson could pick Kennedy as his new running mate. Caminiti also expressed his desire to raise $34,000 in Wisconsin alone for Jimmy Hoffa’s defense fund. By Caminiti’s calculation, if all the states did this, they could raise $1.3 million. He believed that Hoffa was being persecuted by the Justice Department, and said that things were no different now than “in Hitler’s day”. He related that he had heard that during Hoffa’s trial, U.S. Marshals were getting drunk with the jurors. Caminiti said O’Konski had recently made a
speech favorable to Hoffa and that there was the possibility of a congressional investigation into Kennedy’s infringement on civil liberties. This was overheard on the microphone planted at 2559 North Downer Avenue, the Continental Music Company.
Balistrieri then also berated Carlo DiMaggio, saying he was foolish for letting his son Salvatore get mixed up in a burglary ring. Balistrieri said he had warned Carlo that the other guys would turn on Salvatore, and sure enough, they got caught and had to be set up with Dominic Frinzi. Balistrieri then claimed that Frinzi would take the case of the person he was told to, even if someone else offered ten times as much. Regarding Carlo, Balistrieri said, “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t even know that he’s living anymore.” Carlo DiMaggio was also said to be selling meat to Holiday House at an inflated price, and one of the owners talked to Balistrieri about it. He, in turn, told them to keep buying from DiMaggio because he did not want DiMaggio to feel “small”.
The above conversation was later turned over to the Department of Justice’s tax division. The transcript ran 103 pages, suggesting there was a lot more than the little bit mentioned here.
June 1, 1964: An agent was running surveillance at the Continental Music Company. At 2:42pm, Frank Balistrieri, Joseph Enea and two other men left the building and entered a black Cadillac convertible registered to Robert H. Klitzka. Strangely, Balistrieri was in the driver’s seat as they took off. Also parked nearby was a car registered to Pitch’s Specialty Distributing.
Hidden microphone 646-C (at 2559 North Downer Avenue) caught an Outfit “chair” meeting on June 18, 1964. Balistrieri said that Joseph Gurera and Buster Balestrere still belonged to Milwaukee despite living in Kansas City, and that Kansas City boss Nick Civella should leave them alone until Balistrieri decided what he wanted done with them. Balistrieri said he might take a while to decide. Incidentally, he also made the remark that Kansas City had a piece of Omaha, Nebraska, but did not elaborate. (The Mafia’s presence in Omaha has a very strange history, with any number of groups claiming ownership here… although I am unclear why anyone would want Omaha.)
After the formal meeting was over, Joseph Caminiti and Frank Balistrieri had a discussion on how to make money. They said they did not want to be like New York where everyone muscles each other because they would soon end up shooting each other. It was better to be respected. Balistrieri said he did not prefer getting collection money from businesses because they would then hate him and not respect him. He would rather be respected and then be able to make better deals. He specifically mentioned Sardino’s, Fazio’s and Nino’s Steak House. Caminiti said Balistrieri had more authority than bosses of Rockford or Madison because he had been appointed by Chicago rather than his own people, and Chicago would not let him fail. He further said he did not think John Alioto showed Balistrieri much respect, and contrasted him with Vito Seidita, who was respectful and sincere.
October 29, 1964: Joseph Caminiti was overheard on the bug at Continental Music Company. A meeting was being held there and Balistrieri said the local gamblers were getting out of line again, and one should be killed every two years or so just to keep them on their toes. He said, “Everybody knows they die, and they’ll die, that’s all there is to it.”
March 29, 1965: FBI headquarters sent a memo to Milwaukee telling them their request to extend the bug at Continental Music was denied. Although it had provided good information early on, it had not done so in a long time and was costing more than it was worth. They suggested the Milwaukee office find a new location to move the bug, or else it would be discontinued altogether.
The microphone (646-C) at 2559 North Downer Avenue, the site of Continental Music Company, was discontinued on June 3, 1965.
September 17, 1965: Edward Ressel from the state tax authority paid a visit to Paul Bogosian about sales and use taxes he owed from his short-term business (Commercial Sales Corp) at 2559 Downer. Bogosian said the business never conducted any sales, or at least never more than $100, and that’s why they had no records and paid no taxes. Bogosian said he would “start a fire” under his attorney to handle the matter.
Continental Music continued on, and the (later) discovery of this bug would come back to bite the FBI in the butt. But that’s another story.