Son Of Alleged Mob Family Arrested For Murder-For-Hire Plot Against His Own Father And Brother, Officials Say
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A Westchester man, whose family has ties to organized crime, has been charged with masterminding a long running murder-for-hire plot against his own father and brother.
Now that man and several other suspects are under arrest, charged with the 2018 murder of his parent.
Federal prosecutors allege Anthony Zottola Sr. of Larchmont hired members of the Bloods gang to kill his father last October.
Sylvester Zottola was shot to death as he sat in his SUV at a McDonald's drive through in the Claremont section of the Bronx.
The 71-year-old was a reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family.
Back in July, surveillance video caught the moment Zottola's 41-year-old son, Salvatore, was ambushed in front of his home in Throgs Neck and shot multiple times in the head and chest.
Salvatore Zottola survived that attack.
Prosecutors tell CBS2 that although gang members pulled the triggers, Anthony Zottola was pulling the strings, hiring gang members for the attacks.
According to authorities, these attacks were only the latest in a long line of botched attempts by Zottola to have his father and brother murdered.
Prosecutors say in November of 2017, the father was menaced at gunpoint by a masked individual.
Then in December, three men invaded his residence, struck him on the head with a gun, stabbed him multiple times, and slashed his throat.
Sylvester Zottola survived that attack as well, only to be killed less than a year later.
Three other defendants were also charged in this murder conspiracy on Tuesday. Five other suspects were previously indicted in the case.
If convicted, they all face mandatory life in prison, or even the death penalty.