Montagna was born in Montreal, Canada[1] in 1971. He was raised in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and became attracted by the United States already as a teenager. Montagna and his family settled in the Bronx, New York, in the mid 1980s, and Montagna became quite attached to the life of crime, violence and corruption. It is unclear when Montagna was inducted into the Bonanno crime family, however, it was during the late 1990s, under the leadership of strong Boss Joseph "Big Joe" Massino that Montagna was overheard in wiretapped conversations between other reputed members of the Bonanno crime family, such as the Underboss, Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale.

[edit]Sal the Iron Worker

Little is known of Montagna's personal life, only that he got married sometime in the early 1990s to Kellice Gucciardo, relating him to the Gambino and the Genovese crime families by marriage. They had two children, but divorced shortly after the death of a son. He has since remarried to Francesca Carcione and lives in a mansion in Elmont, Long Island with his wife and three daughters. He started a small metalworking company called "Matrix Steel Co.", located at 50 Bogart Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn. 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 the Sicilian-raised Salvatore Montagna was given the nickname, "Sal the Iron Worker".

[edit]Acting capo

In 2002, Montagna was arrested along with the crew of Patrick DeFilippo for illegal gambling and loansharking charges. He refused to answer questions before a grand jury and was charged with criminal contempt. He later pleaded guilty to the charge in 2003, and was placed on probation. It was in late 2003 that US law enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) listed Montagna as an "Acting Capo" and Caporegime of the Bonanno crime family on behalf of DeFilippo and the Sicilian faction which is based in the Bronx.

[edit]Acting boss

After longtime Bonanno Boss, "Big Joe" Massino became a witness, testifying against 60 of his fellow mobsters, 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, shipping him directly off to prison. Around late 2005, Basciano stated that he would promote the Sicilian faction of the old Bonanno crew back in the family's leadership, as Montagna was recognized as the reputed acting boss of the Bonanno crime family from early 2006, and to the present time, with Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora as underboss and Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito as consigliere, making the "Administration" of the Bonanno crime family once again whole and safe.

As of 2008, Montagna who is at age 36, is still the reputed Acting boss of the Bonannos,[2] controlling the entire Bronx faction of the family, as the Daily News links Montagna to known Sicilian Bonanno official, Baldassare "Baldo" Amato. He resided in a modest home in Elmont, Long Island.

In 2009, Montagna was detained by the USCIS. He is not an American citizen and was deported back to Canada. While in Canada he is currently attempting to gain American residency.