Salvatore "Sal the Iron Worker" Montagna (; 1971 – November 24, 2011) was an Italian-Canadian

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

and acting boss of the

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Sal ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, as well as the Sicilian faction-leader of the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

section. He had later been associated with the Rizzuto crime family of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Montagna was born in

, Quebec, Canada in 1971. He was raised in

Castellammare del Golfo Castellammare del Golfo (; ; or ) is a town and municipality in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name can be translated as "Sea Fortress on the Gulf", stemming from the medieval fortress in the harbor. The nearby body of water conversely tak ...

, Sicily. In the mid 1980s, at the age of 15, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in

the Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

. He later became an acting

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

for the

, and by 2004, he was the acting boss of the family in the absence of

Vincent Basciano Vincent John Basciano (; born November 14, 1959) is an American mobster who became acting boss of the Bonanno crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino. Basciano was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 201 ...

. Montagna was a Canadian and Italian citizen, and was deported from the United States to Canada in 2009. In Montreal, Montagna rivaled with the Rizzuto crime family, and after the death of boss

Nicolo Rizzuto Nicolo Rizzuto (; February 18, 1924 – November 10, 2010) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss and founder of the Rizzuto crime family, the Sicilian Mafia organization based in Montreal, Quebec. Rizzuto was born in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, It ...

in 2010, he vied for power. In 2011, he had a falling-out with Rizzuto mobster Raynald Desjardins, and on November 24, 2011, his body was found on the shore of Île Vaudry on the

L'Assomption River The Assomption River (in French ''Rivière l'Assomption'' , named after the Assumption of Mary) is the most important waterway in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada. It is over long, and has a drainage basin (watershed) of . Its source is t ...

, in the city of

Charlemagne, Quebec Charlemagne () is a city in the Canadian province of Québec on the north shore of the Rivière des Prairies, northeast of the city of Montréal’s downtown core. As of 2021, the population was 6,302. Charlemagne is the birthplace and child ...

. In December 2016, Desjardins received a 14-year prison sentence for the murder plot.

Early life

Montagna was born in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in 1971. He was raised in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. In the mid 1980s, at the age of 15, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. 98.5FM
"La guerre de la mafia se transporte à Charlemagne"
, Alexandre Lebrun, 25 November 2011 (accessed 25 November 2011) It is unknown when Montagna became a criminal or when he became a

made man In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by ...

in the Bonanno crime family. During the late 1990s, Montagna's name was overheard in wiretapped conversations between Boss Joseph "Big Joe" Massino and other reputed members of the Bonanno crime family. He was a dual citizen of Italy and Canada.Macleans
"Ex-N.Y. Mob boss found dead by river near Montreal"
, Canadian Press, 2011 November 24 (accessed 25 November 2011)

Sal the Iron Worker

Little is known of Montagna's personal life other than that he married Francesca Carcione and lived in a modest home in Elmont, Long Island with her and their three daughters. He started a small metalworking company called Matrix Steel Co., located at 50 Bogart Street in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...

, managed by his wife.New York Post
"Mob boss gets iced"
, Mitchel Maddux, Tim Perone, 25 November 2011 (accessed 25 November 2011)New York Daily News
"Former Bonanno crime family boss shot dead in Canada, two years after being deported for refusing to testify"
, Tina Moore, 24 November 2011 (accessed 25 November 2011) Matrix Steel manufactures structural and rail mill products, gray and ductile iron foundry crucibles, foundry converters, casting machines, sizing or embossing presses, foundry mold machines and foundry dies and tooling. It was around this time that Montagna was given the nickname "Sal the Iron Worker".

Acting capo

In 2002, Montagna was arrested along with the crew of Patrick DeFilippo for

illegal gambling Gambling law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law ...

and

loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate ...

charges.Book : Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicilian Clan by André Cédilot and André Noël, ''Les Éditions de l'Homme'', epilogue He refused to answer questions before a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

and was charged with criminal contempt of court. He later pleaded guilty to the charge in 2003, and was placed on a five-year

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

. In late 2003, US law enforcement and the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) listed Montagna as an "Acting Capo" and

Caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

of the Bonanno family on behalf of DeFilippo and the Sicilian faction based in the

Acting boss

After longtime Bonanno boss "Big Joe" Massino became an

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

in 2004, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano was recognized as the reputed Boss of the Bonanno crime family, only to discover that Massino would testify against Basciano as well. In 2006, as Basciano was facing jail time, he stated that he would promote the Sicilian faction of the old Bonanno crew back into the family's leadership, as Montagna was recognized as the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family from 2006 until 2010, with Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora as

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

and Anthony Rabito as

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

, making the administration of the Bonanno crime family once again complete. At that time, Montagna gained the nickname "Bambino Boss" due to his relatively young age, being 35. In 2008, Montagna was still the reputed acting boss of the Bonannos, controlling the entire Bronx faction of the family, as the '' Daily News'' linked Montagna to known Sicilian Bonanno official Baldassare "Baldo" Amato. On April 6, 2009, Montagna was arrested by the

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

as he left Matrix Steel. The 2003 criminal contempt conviction allowed U.S. authorities to strip him of his greencard and

deport Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

him to Canada; he was succeeded by Vincent Badalamenti as Bonanno family boss. According to mob writer Jerry Capeci, it was understood Montagna would have no standing or authority within Montreal's then-dominant Rizzuto crime family.

Montreal area activities

After a slide in power of the Rizzuto family, Montagna started to show his influence. Months prior to the assassination of

, he had tried to convince the old patriarch to step down, and let younger blood rule. In 2011, following the assassinations of several major Rizzuto mobsters starting in 2009, Montagna was identified as one of three major mobsters trying to fill the resulting power vacuum, if not take over the Montreal Mafia himself. He, along with Joe Di Maulo and his brother-in-law Raynald Desjardins attempted to take control of Montreal's mafia from the Rizzuto family. Montagna and Desjardins had a falling-out in 2011, later said to be over control of loansharking and bookmaking in Montreal.

Death

Police responded to gunshots in a suburban district of Ile aux Tresors on November 24, 2011, and found the body of Salvatore Montagna on the shore of Île Vaudry on the

, in the city of

, Canada, on Montreal's North Shore region. Witnesses reported that Montagna jumped in the river in an attempt to escape his killers. Law enforcement believed that Montagna was brought to the house of convicted smuggler Jack Arthur Simpson, as his vehicle was later found parked on a Montreal street. By June 2016, authorities were more specific as to how Montagna had died: "Montagna was shot three times inside Simpson's home ... and ran outside in a futile attempt to escape. After crossing a narrow section of the Assomption River, Montagna collapsed and was later declared dead in a hospital". The police investigation confirmed that Raynald Desjardins had taken part in the plot to murder Montagna, who, at the time, was suspected of trying to shake down Montreal-area construction companies, due to their alliance with the Rizzuto family. A number people were eventually arrested and charged, including Simpson and Desjardins. In 2016, Simpson, Vittorio Mirarchi, Calogero Milioto, Pietro Magistrale, Steven D'Addario, Steven Fracas and Felice Racaniello, all admitted to participating in the plot to kill Montagna and accepted plea deals except for Racaniello. In December 2016, Desjardins received a 14-year prison sentence, including

time served In typical criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served ...

. "The killing f Montagnais thought to be tied to a turf war for control of the Montreal Mafia", the CBC reported in 2015.

In popular culture

Montagna was portrayed by Joris Jarsky in the television drama series '' Bad Blood'', which debuted in 2017, surrounding the Rizzuto crime family.

References

External links

Policeone.com: FBI arrests 19 reputed members of N.Y. crime family
by Anthony M. Destefano {{DEFAULTSORT:Montagna, Salvatore 1971 births 2011 deaths 2011 murders in Canada 20th-century American criminals 20th-century Canadian criminals 20th-century Italian criminals 21st-century American criminals 21st-century Canadian criminals 21st-century Italian criminals Acting bosses of the Five Families American male criminals Bosses of the Bonanno crime family Canadian crime bosses Canadian male criminals Canadian people of Sicilian descent Criminals from Montreal Criminals from the Bronx Deaths by firearm in Quebec Gangsters from New York City Italian-Canadian organized crime Italian male criminals Italian people murdered abroad Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Murdered Bonanno crime family members People of Sicilian descent Murdered Canadian gangsters Murdered Mafiosi Organized crime in Montreal People deported from the United States People from Castellammare del Golfo People from Elmont, New York People murdered by Canadian organized crime People murdered in Quebec Rizzuto crime family Sicilian mafiosi