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Thread: Anthony Zottola Sr. and Himen Ross Sentenced to LWOP in 2018 NY Murder of Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola

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    Anthony Zottola Sr. and Himen Ross Sentenced to LWOP in 2018 NY Murder of Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola





    June 19, 2019

    Son charged in mob father’s slaying at drive-thru

    NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors say the son of a reputed Bonanno associate gunned down at a McDonald’s drive-thru in the Bronx was behind his father’s hit, and an earlier failed attack on his own brother.

    Anthony Zottola Sr. was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday on murder-for-hire conspiracy and other charges in the killing of his 71-year-old father, Sylvester Zottola, and the near-fatal shooting of his 41-year-old brother, Salvatore.

    Three other defendants were also charged in the case Tuesday and a fifth suspect is being sought. All four pleaded not guilty.

    The elder Zottola was killed in October while sitting in his car, waiting for a cup of coffee.

    Five alleged Bloods gang members have also been arrested in the slaying and the plot to kill Salvatore, who survived a July shooting.

    https://apnews.com/ede8c6585a484b35ad931efe7cb7e74b
    Last edited by Steven; 10-20-2022 at 12:55 PM.

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    Son accused of ordering hit on mobster dad at McDonald’s wants out of jail over coronavirus

    By Andrew Denney
    The New York Post

    The man accused of paying $200,000 to have his allegedly mobbed-up father whacked in the drive-thru of a Bronx McDonalds — while the wiseguy was ordering a coffee — wants to get out of jail to avoid catching coronavirus.

    Attorneys for Anthony Zottola Sr. said in papers filed late on Friday that he is willing to put up a $5 million bond to get sprung from Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correctional Center and stay under house arrest while he awaits trial.

    Zottola Sr. is accused of plotting with his nine codefendants to murder Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola. They all could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.

    Anthony Zotolla Sr.’s attorneys said that keeping their client in MCC also affects their ability to work with him to protect him from the “harshest of penalties available in the federal system.”

    As of Friday, two inmates at the roughly 700-prisoner MCC in Lower Manhattan have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.

    In filing the request, Zottola joins a long list of high-profile prisoners who have asked to be released as COVID-19 tears through jails across the New York City area.

    Many inmates have provided specific health reasons — such as age and medical conditions — to justify their release.

    On Thursday, for example, disgraced R&B legend R. Kelly, 53, said that both his age and the fact that he recently underwent hernia surgery warrant his release.

    But the 41-year-old Zottola doesn’t provide any similar excuse — arguing just that MCC presents a “gratuitous risk” to his health.

    The feds allege that Zottola plotted his father’s murder so he could take control of Salvatore Zottola’s illegal gambling ring — and offered to pay $200,000 to get the job done.

    The feds say that when Anthony Zottola Sr. would text with codefendant Bushawn “Shelz” Shelton to plot the hit, the two men used morbid film analogies as code for how it would play out — the gunman would be the “director” and Sally Daz “the actor” to be shot for the “final scene,” court papers state.

    This isn’t the first time that Zottola has asked to be able to enjoy the comforts of home while his case proceeds.

    Zottola previously offered to put up a $5 million bond for his release but Brooklyn Federal Judge Raymond Dearie shot down the request, saying the charges against him were too “serious and disturbing” to allow him to wait it out at home.

    https://nypost.com/2020/03/28/son-ac...r-coronavirus/

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    Jury finds son guilty of hiring hitman to kill father in NYC

    AP

    NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man was convicted Wednesday of orchestrating the murder of his father in what prosecutors said was a plot to take over the older man’s lucrative real estate empire.

    A federal jury found Anthony Zottola Sr. and an associate guilty of conspiracy and murder-for-hire in the October 2018 killing of 71-year-old Sylvester Zottola, who was shot was he waited to pick up a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in the Bronx. Anthony Zottola also tried unsuccessfully to have his brother, Salvatore Zottola, killed, according to prosecutors.

    Both men face mandatory life terms after the guilty verdict in the six-week trial.

    The killing of Sylvester Zottola culminated what prosecutors said was a yearlong series of bungled attempts by hired killers to rub out both him and Salvatore Zottola, at the behest of Anthony Zottola.

    Sylvester Zottola was threatened by a masked gunman in late 2017 and later survived being stabbed and having his throat slashed. Salvatore Zottola was shot in the head, chest and hand in front of his residence but survived, according to prosecutors.

    Himen Ross, who was convicted Wednesday on the same counts as Anthony Zottola, tailed the elder Zottola to the McDonald’s with the help of a tracking device placed in his car and shot him multiple times, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

    Five other defendants have pleaded guilty, including Bushawn Shelton, who prosecutors alleged was hired by Anthony Zottola and then engaged Ross to carry out the hit. Another man, Alfred Lopez, was acquitted on all counts Wednesday.

    Anthony Zottola, 44, of Larchmont, helped manage properties for his father’s real estate business, which consisted of multi-family rental properties valued in the tens of millions of dollars. Prosecutors alleged the business was built on illegal gambling proceeds connected to the mob.

    “Over the course of more than a year, the elderly victim, Sylvester Zottola, was stalked, beaten, and stabbed, never knowing who orchestrated the attacks,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Wednesday. “It was his own son, who was so determined to control the family’s lucrative real estate business that he hired a gang of hit men to murder his father.”

    https://apnews.com/article/new-york-...afe23472aedd1c

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    Son of Murder Victim and a Co-Conspirator Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder-for-Hire Committed at McDonald's Drive-Thru

    Anthony Zottola, Sr. Plotted to Kill His Father and Brother to Take Over Family’s Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Empire

    U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

    Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Anthony Zottola, Sr. and Himen Ross were sentenced by United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez to mandatory life imprisonment plus 112 years for their roles in the October 4, 2018 killing of 71-year-old Sylvester Zottola, the father of Anthony Zottola, Sr. The additional years represent 41 years for Salvatore Zottola’s age when he was shot and 71 years for Sylvester Zottola’s age when he was killed. In October 2022, following a six-week trial, a federal jury found the defendants guilty of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and firearms offenses.

    Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the sentence.

    “Over the course of more than a year, the elderly victim, Sylvester Zottola, was stalked, beaten, and stabbed, never knowing who orchestrated the attacks. It was his own son, who was so determined to control the family’s lucrative real estate business, that he hired a gang of hit men to murder his father,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “For sentencing his father to a violent death, Anthony Zottola and his co-defendant will spend the rest of their lives in prison. I commend our prosecutors, the FBI Special Agents and NYPD detectives for their tremendous investigative work solving this cold-blooded crime and bringing the defendants to justice.”

    “Today’s sentence justly punishes Mr. Zottola and Mr. Ross to life imprisonment for their roles in the heartless murder of Sylvester Zottola. The FBI and the NYPD worked relentlessly to investigate this case and ensure the defendants paid the price for their senseless actions. Today’s result is a direct reflection of their effort, as well as that of the skilled and dedicated professionals from the Eastern District of New York who prosecuted the case,” stated Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

    Sylvester Zottola controlled a residential real estate portfolio consisting of multi-family rental properties that was valued at tens of millions of dollars at the time of his death. Defendant Anthony Zottola helped manage his father Sylvester Zottola’s real estate business by maintaining the properties, collecting rent, and helping to run A&S Maintenance, a company that was jointly owned by Anthony and his brother Salvatore Zottola. Anthony Zottola plotted to kill his father and his brother so that he could take control of the family business.

    As proven at trial, Anthony Zottola hired co-conspirator Bushawn Shelton to kill his father and his brother, Salvatore. Shelton recruited others to commit the murders, and together they engaged in a year-long conspiracy to carry out a series of violent attacks against Sylvester and Salvatore Zottola. Among other attempts, on November 26, 2017, Sylvester Zottola was menaced at gunpoint by a masked individual. On December 27, 2017, three men invaded Sylvester Zottola’s residence, struck him on the head with a gun, stabbed him multiple times, and slashed his throat. Zottola survived the attack. Then on July 11, 2018, a gunman shot Salvatore Zottola in the head, chest, and hand in front of his residence. Zottola survived the shooting.

    The conspirators placed a tracking device on Sylvester Zottola’s car, allowing Ross to track him to a McDonald’s restaurant on Webster Avenue in the Bronx where Ross fatally shot the victim multiple times while the victim waited to pick up a cup of coffee in the drive-through. Ross and Shelton exchanged texts immediately after the hit, and then Shelton and Anthony Zottola exchanged texts, in which Anthony was informed that his father had just been murdered. Shelton texted Anthony Zottola: “Can we party today or tomorrow?” Anthony Zottola assured Shelton that he would have Shelton’s payment for carrying out the murder ready soon: “I have the cases of water in a day or so.” A photograph later recovered from one of Shelton’s cellular telephones shows a cardboard box of bottled water, as well as over $200,000 in banded currency.

    Shelton pleaded guilty in August 2022 to murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire. He is awaiting sentencing. Co-defendants Herman Blanco, Arthur Codner, Jason Cummings, and Branden Peterson previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment, 228 months’ imprisonment, 204 months’ imprisonment, and 192 months’ imprisonment, respectively.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Kayla C. Bensing, Emily J. Dean, Devon Lash, and Andrew M. Roddin are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of paralegal specialist Brittany Wissel. Assistant United States Attorney Brian Morris assisted with forfeiture matters.

    The Defendants:

    HIMEN ROSS (also known as “Ace” and “A Boggie”)
    Age: 37
    Bronx, New York

    ANTHONY ZOTTOLA, SR.
    Age: 45
    Larchmont, New York

    Defendants Who Previously Pleaded Guilty:

    HERMAN BLANCO (also known as “Taliban” and “L”)
    Age: 38
    Bronx, New York

    ARTHUR CODNER (also known as “Feddi,” “Feddi Bossgod,” and “Scary”)
    Age: 34
    New Hampton, New York

    JASON CUMMINGS (also known as “The Hat” and “Stacks”)
    Age: 34
    Brooklyn, New York

    KALIK MCFARLANE (also known as “Dottkom” and “Dot”)
    Age: 40
    Brooklyn, New York

    BUSHAWN SHELTON (also known as “Shelz”)
    Age: 38
    Brooklyn, New York

    JULIAN SNIPE (also known as “Biz” and “Bizzzy”)
    Age: 37
    Bronx, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-CR-609 (S-3) (HG)

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr...hire-committed

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