Balistreri was born in San Francisco, California. He was a known mafioso who resided in Santa Clara and frequented the San Jose area and Kansas City. His rap sheet dated back to 1924 and included arrests for counterfeiting and narcotics trafficking, he had three federal narcotics convictions. In February, 1937, narcotic agents made purchases of smoking opium from Balistreri, which led to one of his drug convictions.