On this day in 1993 at the age of 74, we saw Mr Big take his last breath. Frank Balistrieri was a Milwaukee mob boss during the 1980’s, and operated alongside Nicholas Civella and Care DeLuna. He specialized in Casino skimming and passed away of natural causes.

On this day in 1993, the Milwaukee underworld lost one of its most calculating and formidable figures. Frank Balistrieri, known throughout the criminal fraternity as "Mr. Big," drew his last breath at the age of 74, bringing to a close a reign over Wisconsin organised crime that had lasted decades and left an indelible mark on the American Mafia landscape.

Born in Milwaukee in 1918, Balistrieri rose through the ranks of the city's mob with a combination of ruthless ambition and shrewd political cunning. He assumed control of the Milwaukee crime family in the early 1960s, succeeding his own father-in-law, John Alioto, and quickly set about consolidating his power with an iron grip. Under his leadership, Milwaukee punched well above its weight in the national Mafia hierarchy, earning respect from far larger and more powerful organisations across the country.

Balistrieri's most lucrative and ultimately most damaging enterprise was his involvement in the skimming operations run out of Las Vegas casinos during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Working in close coordination with Kansas City boss Nick Civella and Carl DeLuna, along with the Chicago Outfit, Balistrieri and his associates syphoned millions of dollars in unreported cash from the Stardust, Fremont, and Hacienda casinos before the FBI began closing in. The operation was extraordinarily profitable while it lasted, funnelling vast sums directly into mob coffers and bypassing the Nevada gaming authorities entirely. It was, by any measure, one of the most audacious skimming conspiracies in American organised crime history — later immortalised in Nicholas Pileggi's book and Martin Scorsese's film Casino.

The scheme's unravelling proved catastrophic for Balistrieri. In 1983, he and his two sons, Joseph and John, were indicted on federal racketeering charges. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to thirteen years in federal prison, a punishment that effectively dismantled his authority over Milwaukee's crime family. Though he was released early due to failing health, the empire he had spent a lifetime constructing was irreparably diminished by the time he walked free.

Frank Balistrieri died of natural causes on 7th February 1993, never having fully recovered his former standing or influence. His legacy, however, endures as a cautionary tale about the golden age of mob casino corruption — a period of breathtaking greed that the FBI ultimately could not ignore.