Bushawn Shelton has been sentenced to 37 years’ imprisonment for his leadership role in the October 4, 2018 killing of 71-year-old Sylvester Zottola and the July 11, 2018 attempted murder of Salvatore Zottola. The defendant pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire conspiracy on August 22, 2022 and was sentenced last week.
Co-defendants Anthony Zottola and Himen Ross were sentenced to life imprisonment following their convictions at trial. Co-defendants Herman Blanco, Arthur Codner, Jason Cummings and Branden Peterson previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to terms of imprisonment that ranged from 16 to 22 years.
“For more than a year, the defendant led the charge in stalking, beating, stabbing and eventually shooting an elderly man purely for money,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “The lengthy sentence meted out brings an end to the brutality of this violent group. The community is safer as a result.”
At the trial of Shelton’s co-conspirators, it was proven that Anthony Zottola, Sr., hired Bushawn Shelton to kill Zottola’s father, Sylvester, and his brother, Salvatore. Shelton then recruited numerous others and engaged in a year-long conspiracy to carry out a series of violent attacks against Sylvester and Salvatore Zottola.
Multiple attempts on their lives were made, including on November 26, 2017, Sylvester Zottola was menaced at gunpoint; on December 27, 2017, three men invaded Sylvester Zottola’s residence, stabbed him multiple times, and slashed his throat; and on July 11, 2018, a gunman shot Salvatore Zottola in the head, chest, and hand in front of his residence. The pair survived each attack.
Shelton arranged for the placement of a tracking device on Sylvester Zottola’s car, allowing co-defendant Himen Ross, a fellow Bloods gang member, to track Sylvester Zottola to a McDonald’s restaurant on Webster Avenue. There, while Zottola waited at the drive-through to pick up a cup of coffee, Ross fatally shot him multiple times.
Ross and Shelton exchanged texts immediately after the hit. Then Shelton and Anthony Zottola exchanged texts, in which Anthony was informed that his father had just been murdered. Shelton texted Anthony Zottola: “Can we party today or tomorrow?”
Anthony Zottola assured Shelton that he would have Shelton’s payment for carrying out the murder ready soon: “I have the cases of water in a day or so.” A photograph later recovered from one of Shelton’s cellphones depicts a cardboard box of bottled water, as well as over $200,000 in banded currency.
