A Gambino crime family associate convicted of murdering an elderly mobster after stiffing the old fella for $750,000 has been jailed for 40 years.
Anthony Pandrella, 63, will spend the rest of his life in jail for whacking his friend, Vincent Zito, 78, the New York Daily News reports.
“He doesn’t deserve another day outside prison,” Zito’s son Joseph told the court and Pandrella. “I hope you live a long time behind bars.”
The Zito family’s grief was accentuated by the fact that Pandrella had been a long-time, close friend of their father and the family. He was seen as an uncle.
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Zito was whacked in his Brooklyn home on Oct. 26, 2018. His body was discovered by his 11-year-old grandson.
The underworld drama began unfolding when Zito asked Pandrella to hold on to $750,000 in proceeds from Gambino loansharking operations. But the old man worried the feds were onto him.
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When he asked for the money back, Pandrella said the cash had vanished.
Weeks before the murder, a furious Zito threatened to whack Pandrella over dinner at a Brooklyn eatery. But Pandrella struck first.
And then he sat with the devastated family on the night of the slaying. Pandrella was convicted in June.
“All for greed, the defendant ruthlessly executed his longtime friend after being welcomed into his home,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
“Pandrella’s cold-blooded crime has cost him dearly with the loss of his freedom for decades.”
If he makes it that long.
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Pandrella is currently in the hospital and needs a wheelchair to get around. He suffers from gangrene and diabetes.
The mobster’s lawyer said that any jolt in jail longer than 10 years would effectively be a death sentence. Prosecutors wanted a life sentence.
While the Zito family wanted Pandrella to spend the rest of his life in prison, they came close.
“In essence, 40 years? Sixty-three years old? You tell me what it is,” Joseph Zito said. “But just the satisfaction of hearing ‘life.’ A life for a life, in my mind.”
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