Son plotted murder of mobster father, brother: Prosecutors

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Prosecutors in New York say the alleged mastermind behind the murder of reputed mobster Sylvester Zottola and the attempted hit on one of his sons, Salvator Zottola, was Anthony Zottola, Sylvester's other son.

A federal indictment charges the 41-year-old and eight other Bloods gang members in a murder-for-hire conspiracy which involved several attempts to kill Anthony's 71-year-old father.

They were arraigned at Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday.  Prosecutors highlighted text messages after failed attempts in November and December 2017.

Anthony Zottola and the would-be hit man allegedly spoke in code.

They referred to the murder as ‘filming' and the ‘final scene,' Sylvester Zottola was described as ‘the actor' and the gunman was called ‘the director.'

Then, in March 2018, Anthony allegedly sent another text about his father and younger brother.

"Can we get a double header at all. My business is all messed up by both of them," he wrote.

A few months later, surveillance video captured the nearly fatal hit on Salvatore Zottola outside his Throgs Neck home.

In October, Sylvester was shot to death at a McDonald's drive-through in the Bronx.