sent two crew members to prison. In 1980, a third crew member, Vito Arena, became a government witness. In 1982, Arena began testifying about crimes committed by Gaggi and the DeMeo crew. As the investigation intensified, Castellano became concerned about DeMeo cooperating with authorities if he were arrested. On January 20, 1983, DeMeo's body was found nearly frozen in the trunk of his car. DeMeo's killer was never identified, but law enforcement theorized that Castellano had him killed by either Gaggi or remaining DeMeo crew members. Shortly after DeMeo's murder, Montiglio returned to New York to collect an old loan shark debt and was arrested. To avoid prosecution, Montiglio started cooperating with the government, providing information on Gaggi and the DeMeo crew. Montiglio's information led to the indictments of both Gaggi and Castellano. By early 1984, some of the DeMeo crew members were arrested. One of them, Richard DiNome, was later murdered on February 4, 1984. As with DeMeo, DiNome's killers were never identified, but law enforcement assumed they were the remaining DeMeo crew members. DiNome's brother, Frederick DiNome, also suspected the DeMeo crew of killing Richard and agreed to become a government witness. On February 25, Gaggi was indicted on multiple charges of racketeering and murder. Castellano was indicted the following month. The court decided to split the numerous charges against both men into two trials. The first trial would be dealing with the auto theft ring and five related murders. The first trial began in October 1985 and saw testimony from Arena, DiNome, and Montiglio. In December 1985, midway through the trial, Castellano was shot to death at the Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on orders from capo John Gotti. With Castellano's death, Gaggi became the lead defendant in the first trial. Gotti quickly assumed control of the family. In March 1986, Gaggi was convicted of conspiracy to sell stolen cars, and was sentenced to five years in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. In 1988, Nino was transferred from Lewisburg to the Metropolitan Correction Center for his second trial. The second trial would focus on Gaggi's racketeering acts and on the 25 murders allegedly committed by the DeMeo crew. Death On April 17, 1988, while awaiting his second trial, Gaggi died of a heart attack. Gaggi had told a guard that he was suffering chest pain, but the guard did nothing. It was widely speculated that Gaggi might have survived