Mafia Killed After Multiple Contract Murder Attempts... The Client Was His Son

Sylvester Killed, Built Real Estate Business Through Mafia-Linked Illegal Gambling
Client's Brother Salvatore: "Father Was Close to Mafia Members but Not an Official Member"

An American court found guilty a son who killed his father, known as a mafia member, to gain control of the business and attempted to kill his brother as well. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Despite multiple failures, a U.S. court has convicted a son who repeatedly hired hitmen and ultimately murdered his father, known as a mafia member.

In particular, it was revealed that the son hired hitmen several times to kill his father. The father died without knowing that his son was behind it.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 19th (local time), a jury at the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, delivered a guilty verdict to Anthony Jotola (44), who was charged with contract killing and other offenses. Jotola was accused of hiring a hitman in October 2018 to kill his father, Sylvester (71), and attempting to kill his brother Salvatore (45) in July of the same year.

Sylvester was known to have built a family business worth tens of millions of dollars by entering the real estate business based on funds earned from illegal gambling linked to the mafia. Salvatore had stated that this business generated an annual income of $1.5 million (about 2.15 billion KRW) from around 30 properties in the Bronx area.

The prosecution explained that Jotola tried to kill his father and brother to gain control of this business. In particular, Sylvester was continuously attacked starting with an assault on the street in September 2017. In November 2017, he was shot at while driving, and in December of the same year, intruders broke into his home and stabbed him in the neck with a weapon.

Sylvester barely survived, but shooting attempts continued the following year. Eventually, in October 2018, he was shot and killed at a fast-food restaurant in the Bronx area.

Brian Peace, a prosecutor from the Eastern District of New York, said, "For over a year, Sylvester endured stalking, assault, and stabbing without knowing who was behind it," adding, "The son who hired criminals to kill his father, aiming to take over the family business, was the mastermind."

The jury also found Hyman Ross, the hitman who shot Sylvester under Jotola’s orders, guilty. Local legal circles expect Jotola and Ross to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the jury also found Hyman Ross, the hitman who shot Sylvester under Jotola’s orders, guilty. Local legal circles expect Jotola and Ross to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The NYT reported that members of the Jotola family have lived together in the Bronx area of New York for decades, and that the murdered Sylvester was rumored to be connected to the Bonanno family, one of New York’s five major mafias. However, the NYT added that Salvatore, Jotola’s brother, testified that their father was friendly with mafia members but was not an official member of the organization.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.