Nick George Montos
| Nick George Montos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives | |
| Charges | Bank Robbery - Escape from prison |
| Description | |
| Born |
November 8, 1916 Tampa, Florida |
| Died |
November 30, 2008 (aged 92) Massachusetts |
| Status | |
| Added |
September 8, 1952 March 2, 1956 |
| Caught |
August 23, 1954 March 28, 1956 |
| Number | 37 & 94 |
| Captured | |
Nicholas George Montos (November 8, 1916 – November 30, 2008)[1] was an American criminal, associate of the Chicago Outfit and a fugitive. He was the oldest inmate being held in Massachusetts until his death in 2008 at the age of 92.
Montos first became involved in crime at the age of 14 and dropped out of Lakeland, Florida high school in the 11th grade in 1933. He was arrested in Tampa in August 1934 for breaking and entering, but released. In November 1934, he was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina for auto theft and served 18 months, first in Ohio and then at a prison camp in Petersburg, Virginia. In July 1936, he was arrested for possessing burglary tools but escaped from the Miami county jail before being recaptured and serving time in Raiford. He was picked up yet again in 1938 for burglaries in Alabama and Georgia, and escaped twice in Alabama in 1942 and 1944.[2]
By 1945, he had set himself up in Chicago and was convicted on charges of burglary and postal larceny. More burglary charges in Alabama and Mississippi were filed against Montos in 1949, 1950 and 1951. On September 8, 1952 he was placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list after a robbery in Georgia. He was arrested in 1954 as he prepared to rob a freight train in Chicago.
Two years later Montos escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary using a hacksaw. He was again placed on the FBI fugitives list and caught 26 days later. From 1957 to 1962, he was imprisoned at Alcatraz, and was soon recaptured upon release for an armed robbery.
After being released from prison in May 1973, he joined the payroll of Chicago Teamsters Local 714 while moonlighting as a burglar in Youngstown, Ohio. In the late 1970s, he was living in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park and working for Chicago Outfit members John Monteleone and James Torello. He was a prime suspect in the attempted murder of Milwaukee Mafia member Vincent Maniaci in 1977.
Montos attempted to rob a Brookline antiques store in 1995. He tied up owner Sonia Paine, referring to her with an anti-Semitic epithet. She managed to escape and attack Montos with a baseball bat. This was Montos's last act of crime before he was arrested.
Montos, who suffered from heart problems had a triple bypass in 2000. Later into his sentence he became weaker and started to pick up more health problems. He applied for parole after the surgery but it was rejected. A few weeks before his death Montos suffered a heart attack and once again applied for parole. Montos died on November 30, 2008 while his parole plea was still to be evaluated.[3]
There were several requests to free Montos. Several prisoners started a petition along with Massachusetts residents so he could live his last days with his elderly sister in Florida. Prisoners rights group, End the Odds also campaigned for his release.
References
- ↑ American Veterinary Medical Association (1954). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. American Veterinary Medical Association. ISSN 0003-1488. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
- ↑ Nicholas Montos, oldest prisoner in Mass. Rocky Mountain News
- ↑ After a life of crime, state's oldest inmate succumbs at 92 The Boston Globe