Anthony “Nino” Gaggi may not be the most recognized name in Gambino Family history, but he was one of their most important captains. Nino was a lifelong ally to Paul Castellano who rose through the ranks to become boss.
Gaggi is best known as boss over New York’s most deadly team of hitmen, the DeMeo Crew. It was Gaggi who brought Roy DeMeo into the mafia and showed him the art of doublecross and murder.
Nino’s Young Days
He was a first generation American whose parents came here from Palermo, Sicily. Nino’s father made an honest living running a barbershop and his mother had worked as a seamstress. Gaggi dropped out of school at 13 and attempted to follow his father’s footsteps as a barber, but soon found his niche in loansharking around the neighborhood.
Nino had one distinct advantage over other young thugs looking to join the mafia ranks, as he was a 2nd cousin to Frank Scalise. Scalise would serve as underboss to Albert Anastasia before it became known as the Gambino Crime Family. Gaggi was given a no-show job through Scalise, allowing him vast amounts of time to pursue other criminal money making schemes.
Nino became heavily involved in the local car theft scene. He ran a scheme where phony VINs were created and then cars were stolen to match. Gaggi also took cuts from local car thieves as a street tax for working in his area. He was arrested and charged in 1955 for running a stolen car ring. The witnesses all forgot their testimony on the stand and Gaggi was subsequently acquitted.
In 1957, Frank Scalise was shot and killed in the Bronx. Nino’s leader was now dead and his future was up in the air. A couple months later, Scalise’s boss Albert Anastasia “The Lord High Executioner” was murdered as he sat in his barber’s chair. Nino’s young nephew Dominick Montiglio remembers the uncertainty and fear that was in the air when he was a child in 1957.
Things were looking up for Nino however. He was an ally of Paul Castellano and Carlo Gambino, who took over the family after the Anastasia hit. Carlo was seen as a breath of fresh air by the other bosses in comparison to Anastasia. He was not impulsive. He was consistently on top of his game, like a lion and a fox as he loved to say.
There was one unfinished piece of business for Nino after the shift of power. He found out that it was former Anastasia hitman Vincent Squillante who had killed his mentor Frank Scalise. Squillante got caught up in an extortion case in 1960, at which time Paul and Carlo told Nino it was ok to take him out. This would be Gaggi’s first killing and for it, he would be made into the Gambino Family.
Developing Monsters
It wasn’t the things Nino did personally that made him a Gambino legend, it was his mentoring of Roy DeMeo. DeMeo became an official Gambino associate after Gaggi discovered him and took him under his wing. Roy was a double threat of a gangster, he knew how to make money and he was also a willing savage.
The two men worked together to develop money making schemes. Nino made some money in his time with loansharking and stolen cars, but young DeMeo had a different level of earning abilities. He dealt in stolen cars, narcotics, loansharking, pornography and even some legally legit ventures that paid him handsomely.
The relationship with Roy was good for Nino Gaggi in many ways. Roy had a crew of young dangerous thugs who were also ready to make money for the Gambinos. The DeMeo Crew were known as the young local mob tough guys. They were eager to earn Roy’s respect just as Roy was to earn Nino’s. Nino, the aging mobster now had a young army at his disposal.
DeMeo had always told Gaggi that he’d be willing to kill somebody for the family. In 1973, Nino decided to take him up on the offer. Pornographer Paul Rothenberg was the first victim of Roy DeMeo, whose crew would go on to kill up to 200 other people in the next decade. Nino had been waiting for the right opportunity to unleash Roy.
When Rothenberg’s porn lab was raided, he began cooperating with the DA's office and word got back to Nino. Roy was ordered to take out the snitch and he did with deadly efficiency and coldness. Gaggi had previously had his doubts about how tough Roy was, he talked a big game but this time he turned up big.
Nino decided since the Rothenberg hit went so well, he could use Roy to take care of another piece of lingering business. Vincent Governara was a local kid who had busted Nino up and broken his nose years earlier. Nino had already tried to kill Governara and failed, but on June 12, 1976 Nino and Roy found him and finished the job.
Enter Dominick Montiglio
In the Governara hit, Nino had brought his nephew Dominick Montiglio along. Dominick had been raised by his uncle, so he knew what Nino did for a living and grew up with the mob. This would be his first and only actual “hit” as he was there to serve as the driver for Nino and Roy, the shooters. He knew his uncle had killed people in the past and now he got to witness it firsthand.
About a year and a half earlier, it was Dominick who Nino ordered to put a grenade under Governara’s car, which he did. Vincent was injured in the blast and left town for a while, but not nearly long enough. Montiglio just happened to notice his car parked in town and reported the news to Nino and Roy, who sprang right into action.
Dominick and Roy did not care for each other personally, but they had something of a political relationship and tolerated one another. Montiglio felt Roy was a kiss ass who would betray his uncle one day. He felt that every move Roy made was for personal gain. Roy felt that Dominick was a spoiled lucky punk riding his uncle’s coattails.
Gaggi put Dominick in charge of relations with the DeMeo Crew. He was to relay orders from Nino and pick up the weekly tributes which were collected at Roy’s bar, the Gemini Lounge in Canarsie. For the first time in his life, Nino was able to relax and let the young gangsters work for him. He was now in his 50s and spent more time at home.
From time to time, Gaggi would warn Montiglio about getting too close to DeMeo or any of his crew members. He wanted Dominick there to do his work only, but Montiglio was getting heavily involved in narcotics trafficking. Drug dealing was supposedly banned by the Gambino Family and punishable by death. The bosses all accepted the profits without question, but if you got caught you died.
Riding Paul Castellano’s Wave
With the financial boost he got from Roy DeMeo’s crew every week, Nino began to ascend the ranks of importance in the Gambino Family. He stayed very close with Paul Castellano for years and as “Big Paul rose”, Nino rose. At this time, Nino was a soldier in Castellano’s crew. Paul was still a captain.
Through Nino, Roy was hoping to develop a personal relationship with Paul Castellano. Even though he was a street guy Roy had delusions that he would be accepted into Paul’s white collar world. It was not to be. Paul strongly disliked Roy, sharing the same opinion as Dominick that Roy was a kiss ass. He was also violent beyond all reason.
With all of that said, Paul very much valued DeMeo and was glad to take his money. He employed Roy’s services for other reasons too. Paul’s son in law Frank Amato was accused of cheating on his daughter and causing a miscarriage. Big Paul was disgusted and ordered Nino to have DeMeo kill Amato and make his body disappear.
Roy happily obliged Paul’s demands not only on this matter, but also in the murder of Vinnie Borelli, another low level wiseguy who dated Paul’s daughter. Dating Paul’s daughter was not a safe idea if her father didn’t like you. Through these and other murders, Nino and Roy became Paul’s go to when he needed someone eliminated.
Longtime boss Carlo Gambino died of natural causes in late 1976. In a move that surprised and angered many members of the family, Carlo named Paul as his successor and not deserving underboss Neil Dellacroce. Dellacroce silently seethed but his crew openly protested, including powerful up and coming soldier John Gotti.
Nino was made a captain in the Gambinos after Paul took over. Nino and Roy were firmly on the Castellano side of the split. Gaggi was able to convince Paul to make Roy. DeMeo had become insistent on the matter and knew that he was bringing in more money than nearly anyone in the family. Paul didn’t like him but he had no choice.
Gotti and his team were ready for a war but Dellacroce ordered them to accept the result and respect the rules. A Gotti-DeMeo/Gaggi clash could have happened at this time but cooler heads prevailed with Castellano and Dellacroce. Nino and Roy might have had the advantage at the time. Roy and his crew were nothing short of frightening.
Eliminating All Potential Threats
Nino and Roy were the most feared mobsters in New York in the late 70s. Roy and his crew ran rampant and only answered to Nino and Paul. Roy had begun doing side work as a contract killer, making himself and his crew available to anyone who could pay for their services. Roy had a way of making bodies disappear too, chopping them up.
The next person that hit their radar was Jimmy Eppolito, who was a made Gambino member from Nino’s old crew in Bath Beach. Eppolito had gone to Paul and accused Nino and Roy of dealing in narcotics, which they of course were doing. Unfortunately for Eppolito, Paul was profiting from it. Instead of following mafia rules, Paul tipped off Nino and Roy.
The ironic part of the whole situation was that Eppolito was also involved in the drug trade. He only complained because his son Jimmy Jr. had been ripped off in a deal with DeMeo’s crew. Paul gave Nino and Roy his blessing to handle the problem however they saw fit, which was essentially handing down a death sentence on the Eppolitos.
It was decided that they would lure the father and son to the Gemini Lounge for a “meeting” to resolve the dispute. They were all riding in Jimmy Jr.’s car when Jimmy Sr. started having second thoughts about going to the Gemini. Jimmy Jr. pulled the car over and immediately, Nino and Roy pulled out guns and killed the father and son on the spot.
It was a sloppy double murder with multiple witnesses. One of the witnesses named Patrick Penny quietly followed Nino after they jumped out of the car and was able to wave down an off duty cop. Nino ended up shooting at the cop but taking a bullet in his neck. Nino had always talked about dying in the streets with a gun in his hand, and that almost happened.
Roy got away after the shooting and right away began looking for Penny, who he killed a few weeks later. Nino then pulled an amazing stunt, he painfully pulled the bullet lodged in his neck out, but gave authorities a different bullet. The murder charges were dropped and he was only then convicted of assault and sentenced to 5-15 years. Roy would take over as acting captain.
Big Trouble For Roy
Real problems began for the DeMeo Crew when an investigation into his international stolen car ring was launched. Roy had been shipping hundreds of cars per week overseas to wealthy investors in Kuwait. The gig was a money machine that was felt all the way to the top to Castellano who would end up getting pulled into the case.
As soon as Castellano found out about the investigation, he considered having Roy killed. He presented the idea to Gaggi, who was able to temporarily talk Paul out of doing it. As much trouble as Roy may have been in, Nino was not yet ready to pull the card of his money maker. He insisted to Paul that they needed Roy both for the money and the protection against Gotti.
At one point in time, Castellano approached John Gotti and asked him to kill Roy DeMeo. John’s brother Gene Gotti was heard on a wiretap device talking about how John wanted no part of the job. Castellano didn’t want to kill his protection and main money source either, but was scared that DeMeo was going to crack and cooperate with authorities.
In the end, Paul just handed the job to Nino and ordered him to have Roy’s crew members participate. Nino called on the Gemini Twins, Joey Testa and Anthony Senter to assist. They lured Roy to the garage of another crew member where Nino pulled out a pistol and shot him in the face. The twins would symbolically each put a bullet behind DeMeo’s ears for finality.
Dominick’s Revenge
Nino and Paul hoped that by eliminating Roy that their legal problems would go away, but they were about to multiply. The stolen car investigation had grown into an international case that involved 25 mafia related murders. Nino and Roy had previously attempted to kill any and all potential witnesses but it was all in vain and the floodgates were about to open.
A few years earlier, Nino had a very serious falling out with his nephew Dominick Montiglio. Gaggi was furious at his nephew being involved in drugs and essentially banished him from the family. Nino told associates that Montiglio stole $250,000 from him. Dominick knew this was nothing short of a death sentence in this world and skipped town, even with a case hanging over his head.
A few months after Roy was killed in 1983, Montiglio came back to New York. He was looking for money that he was previously owed. Not even knowing about DeMeo’s murder, he used Roy’s name as he was threatening a debtor. It proved an unwise move as one went to the police and set Montiglio up.
The guy wore a wire to their next meeting and Montiglio was immediately. Knowing he was as good as dead in a New York jail, Dominick quickly decided to cooperate against Gaggi and Paul. Montiglio was able to provide first hand evidence that Nino and Paul took payments and made orders, which included murders.
Backing up Dominick’s testimony would be two other former DeMeo Crew members, Vito Arena and “Broadway” Freddie DiNome. DiNome was Roy’s longtime driver and one of his closest friends. He’d done murders with Roy and knew information about many other unsolved homicide and missing persons cases. Freddie decided to cooperate after his brother Richie was killed.
Vito had been a thorn in Roy’s side for the last year of his life. They had been looking to kill him knowing that he was an informant, but it was the cops that found him. Vito was able to lead them to a chopped up body that had been put in a 55 gallon drum and thrown in the ocean. With these 3 witnesses, Gaggi, Castellano and the other defendants had no chance.
The End Of The Road
Before Paul Castellano could go to prison, John Gotti and Sammy Gravano would kill him outside of Sparks Steak House in December 1985. The aftermath of the killing was a major shakeup, Gotti was now boss and no one was powerful enough to go against the Gotti/Gravano alliance. Turned out Paul was unpopular with more than just Gotti.
Nino was the one and only captain who didn’t vote in favor of Gotti taking over as boss. He accused Gotti and Gravano of the killing but had no real power to do anything about it. Gotti was heard on a wiretap very aggressively letting it be known that Nino was in hot water.
It was very likely that Nino Gaggi would’ve been killed at this time but he went to jail and never got out. After the death of Paul, Nino was now the target of the massive car case. With the testimony of Dominick, Vito and DiNome, Gaggi was convicted of conspiracy in the case. He was soon to go on trial for multiple murders.
He was awaiting his second trial on April 17, 1988 when he began having chest pains and complained to his cellmate. When guards arrived, they seemed reluctant and unprepared to help him. They stalled for time before actually making Nino change his clothes before they would bring him to a doctor. Nino died on an examination table that night.
One person who had been by Nino’s side throughout his violent life was his loyal wife Rose. She knew what her husband did for a living, but loved the person that she truly felt was a good man. Rose had a case for negligence against the prison, she won and received a cash settlement from the government