The son of a murder victim and his co-conspirator were convicted of a murder-for-hire committed at a McDonald's drive-thru.
According to an Oct. 19 U.S. Department of Justice news release, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Anthony Zottola Sr. and Himen Ross guilty of murder-for-hire conspiracy and murder-for-hire in the death of 71-year-old Sylvester Zottola Oct. 4, 2018, as he waited to get a cup of coffee at a McDonald's drive-thru in the Bronx.
“Over the course of more than a year, the elderly victim, Sylvester Zottola, was stalked, beaten and stabbed, never knowing who orchestrated the attacks," DOJ Attorney Breon Peace said in the release. "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. 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.”
The trial went for six weeks, the release reported. The defendants were also found guilty by the jury of illegally using and possessing firearms as well as using a firearm to cause Sylvester Zottola's death.
“Proven by evidence and testimony during trial, Zottola had not one, not two, but multiple chances to rethink his deadly intent to murder his own father," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said in the release. "He and the others he recruited chose to continue with their savage plot and succeeded. Now, instead of living off his father's millions, his only payday will be federal prison.''
“Today’s convictions underscore the unwavering commitment of the NYPD, and its law enforcement partners, to deliver meaningful consequences for violent crimes – in this case against those who carried out a sustained plot to commit murder," NYC Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said in the release. "For their effort to build a strong prosecution, I want to thank and commend our NYPD investigators, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, the New York Field Office of the FBI and everyone who worked to see this case through to a successful outcome.”
Judge Hector Gonzalez of the U.S. District Court will sentence them to mandatory life sentences. Alfred Lopez, a third defendant, was found not guilty on every charge, the release reported.
