The Mafia and Grande Cheese
Milwaukee Mafia · Gavin Schmitt
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Show Notes
In this episode, Gavin and Eric discuss a Fond du Lac, Wisconsin cheese company's ties to the Mafia.
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.
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.”
Murders:
- Thomas Oneglia
- James DeAngelo
- Onofrio Vitale
- Vincent Benevento
- LeRoy Sommers
Links:
- Visit MilwaukeeMafia.com for more information
- Gavin's Books: https://amzn.to/3ssKOQH
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Milwaukeemafia
- Informer Magazine link with sources: http://informer-journal.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-mob-and-wisconsin-cheese.html