Dominick Montiglio (born Dominick Anthony Santamaria; July 17, 1947 – June 27, 2021) was an American former associate of the

Gambino crime family The Gambino 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, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

Early life

Montiglio was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Anthony Santamaria and Marie Gaggi, both of Sicilian origin. When his father became estranged, he was raised by his uncle

Nino Gaggi Anthony Frank Gaggi (born Antonino Frank Gaggi; August 7, 1925 – April 17, 1988), also known as Nino Gaggi, was a capo in the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, headed by Roy DeMeo. Biography Gaggi was ...

. His mother remarried to Anthony Montiglio, and Dominick took his surname. He was also a cousin of

Frank Scalice Frank Scalice (; born Francesco Scalisi, ; September 23, 1893 – June 17, 1957), also known as "Don Ciccio" and "Wacky", was an Italian-American mobster active in New York City, who led the future Gambino crime family from 1930 to 1931. He ...

Military service

In 1967, Montiglio served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

as a sniper, reportedly killing 93 men.

Gambino crime family and informant

Upon his return, he started working for the Gambino family in drugs, extortion and murder, reportedly earning $250,000 per week at his peak in the Roy DeMeo crew. In 1983, Montiglio was arrested for racketeering, and the Gambinos fearing he would talk, reportedly took out a $1 million contract on his life; Montiglio decided to

collaborate Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the

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

. He testified against the family and Gaggi in various trials, and reportedly helped send 56 mobsters to prison. He later changed his identity and entered the

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

, where he and his family stayed for the next decade as they moved around between various locations in Wyoming, Alabama and Colorado; they withdrew from the program in 1993 when they could no longer cope with the constant moving.

Later years and death

In his later life, Montiglio devoted himself to art. He also appeared in the 1994 documentary film '' Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob''. On June 27, 2021, Montiglio died at the age 73 in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, and is buried at

Santa Fe National Cemetery Santa Fe National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses , and as of 2021, had 68,000 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montiglio, Dominick 1947 births 2021 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent American gangsters of Sicilian descent DeMeo Crew Gambino crime family People from Brooklyn People from Levittown, New York People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program Federal Bureau of Investigation informants American military personnel of the Vietnam War