(Illustration by The Real Deal with Getty)
The lengths allegedly taken by one man to seize a $45 million real estate portfolio are exposed in a hired-murder trial.
Anthony Zottola is accused of carrying out a plot to murder his father. In his opening remarks, Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Rush accused Zottola of wanting control of his father’s property, The New York Post reported.
According to Anthony’s brother Salvatore, Sylvester Zottola manages about 90 properties worth about $45 million. The patriarch’s real estate business had more than $1 million in annual rental income from one of his two businesses that Sylvester ran in the Bronx. He also ran an illegal poker machine vending business.
It came to a screeching halt in 2018 when a 71-year-old died while having coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in the Bronx. rice field.
Zottola is on trial along with Himan Ross and Alfred Lopez. The trio are accused of hiring Shelton to murder Sylvester for $200,000. Zottola allegedly joked with Shelton over text after the property owner was executed.
In his opening statement this week, prosecutors painted a portrait of the many assassination attempts made against Elder Zottola. Salvatore was also ambushed by gunmen outside his home at one point and survived the botched attack.
A gangster with ties to both the Lucchese and Bonanno families was eventually murdered in the Claremont section of the Bronx.
Each defendant’s attorney used opening statements to puncture the prosecution’s case. They argued that cooperating witnesses could not be trusted and were willing to lie in exchange for lenient sentences.
— Holden Walter Warner