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| L to R: LaGalbo, DeGeorge, DiBella |
FBI surveillance photo taken at an unknown location in August 1961.
Those depicted:
1. Frank LaGalbo (1908-1976): Member of the Milwaukee Family who transferred to Chicago around 1954. Like many other members of that Family he was born in Bagheria, Palermo. On May 24, 1976 found dead of an apparent suicide by gunshot.
2. James DeGeorge (1899-1978): Chicago Member from Ribera comune of Agrigento. As the result of an intra-Family conflict, DeGeorge was ordered out of that city by the Family's leadership on threat of death.
3. John DiBella (1890-1964): Bonanno member from Montelepre in Palermo. Moved to Wisconsin in the 1940s, residing at the Hotel Retlaw in the town of Fond du Lac where he managed Grande Cheese Company. Others with financial interests in the company included the wife of Family Boss Joseph Bonanno. DiBella became a naturalized US citizen under sponsorship of Milwaukee Family members John Alioto and Pasquale Migliaccio. He died in 1964, his funeral held in Fond du Lac and attended by members from across the country.
Readers interested in Chicago and Milwaukee should visit Gavin Schmitt's Milwaukee Mafia site, which hosts various member bios, photos, FBI file cliffnotes along with a large collection of the files themselves that the site owner has taken the time to make available to all. The site was single-handedly responsible for sparking my interest in the Midwest Families, and information on LaGalbo and DeGeorge was found in its uploaded documents.
