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Mob associate kills long-time friend over $750,000, feds say. He’s going to prison

An associate of the Gambino Crime Family, an infamous mafia organization, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the killing of his long-time friend among other charges, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Anthony Pandrella had been given $750,000 by Vincent Zito, a 77-year-old loan shark and friend of 30 years, to “hold for safekeeping,” according to an Oct. 5 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office. But Pandrella refused to return the money when asked.

In October 2018, Pandrella went to Zito’s home in Brooklyn and shot him in the back of the head before making off with his expensive wristwatches, according to the release.

Zito’s 11-year-old grandson discovered his body when he returned home from school, the release said, and the murder weapon was later found at Zito’s home with Pandrella’s DNA on the grip and trigger.

Footage from a neighborhood security camera also showed Pandrella returning home and changing his shoes, clothing, and removing a floor mat from his car to be cleaned, the release said.

Pandrella was convicted by a federal jury of the charges in June following a one and a half-week trial, according to a previous news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Pandrella’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News for a request for comment, but he told the New York Daily News, “Anything far beyond the 10-year statutory minimum is going to be a death sentence.” Pandrella suffers from diabetes and gangrene, according to the outlet.

The Gambino Crime Family was one of the five major “families” who controlled organized crime in New York, but their influence has declined in recent decades, according to a 2019 article in the New York Times.

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