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A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a New York man for orchestrating the slaying of his 71-year-old mobster-linked father in a McDonald's drive-thru as part of a plot to take over the family’s real estate empire worth millions.
Anthony Zottola — the 44-year-old son of alleged Mafia associate Sylvester Zottola, also known as "Sally Daz," — was convicted of murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy following a six-week trial.
Prosecutors say he employed a gang of hitmen to kill the elder Zottola, who allegedly had mob ties to the Bonanno crime family. But month after month, the elder Zottola survived attempts on his life — a man assaulted him in front of his Bronx home, and someone fired at his vehicle along the Throgs Neck Expressway.
A man approached him on a sidewalk and posted a pistol in his face, but the weapon somehow misfired.
A shooting took place in the drive-thru lane at a McDonald's at 1625 Webster Avenue in the Bronx, killing alleged mobster Sylvester Zottola. (Nina Cochran/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
And two days after Christmas 2017, three men invaded the elder Zottola’s residence, struck him on the head with a gun, stabbed him multiple times, and slashed his throat.
The planned hit job was successful on October 4, 2018, when Sally Daz was riddled with bullets and killed as he waited to pick up a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in the Bronx.
Himen Ross, who prosecutors say fired the shots that killed the elder Zottola, was also convicted on Wednesday.
Alfred Lopez, the alleged getaway driver for Ross, was acquitted.
"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," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, said in a statement. "For sentencing his father to a violent death, Anthony Zottola and his co-defendant will spend the rest of their lives in prison where they belong as a result of today’s verdict. I thank 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."
NYPD investiagte the shooting in the drive-thru lane at a McDonald's in the Bronx that killed alleged Mafia associate Sylvester Zottola. (Nina Cochran/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Anthony Zottola was also convicted of plotting to have his brother, Salvatore Zottola, killed.
On July 11, 2018, a gunman shot Salvatore Zottola in the head, chest, and hand in front of his residence. He testified at trial after surviving the shooting and enduring several other violent attempts on his life.
Sylvester Zottola controlled a residential real estate portfolio consisting of multi-family rental properties that were valued at tens of millions of dollars at the time of his death. 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, prosecutors said.
Sylvester Zottola was murdered in the drive-thru at a McDonald's on Oct. 4, 2018. (Nina Cochran/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
During the trial, prosecutors outlined how Anthony Zottola hired co-conspirator Bushawn Shelton — a 38-year-old alleged Bloods gang member from Brooklyn — to kill his father and his brother.
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.
A tracking device was placed on Sylvester Zottola’s car, allowing Ross to track him to the McDonald’s restaurant on Webster Avenue, where Ross fatally shot the victim multiple times.
Sylvester Zottola was shot and killing while waiting to pick up coffee. (Nina Cochran/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
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, prosecutors said.
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."
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A photo recovered from Shelton’s cell phone shows a cardboard box of bottled water as well as over $200,000 in cash. Shelton awaits sentencing after pleading guilty in August to murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire.
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