Gambino associate gets 40 years for friend’s murder: NY AG

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

According to an Oct. 5 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Anthony Pandrella took $750,000 from Vincent Zito, a 77-year-old loan shark and friend of 30 years’ experience, for “safekeeping.” But Pandrello refused to return the money when asked.

In October 2018, Pandrello entered Zito’s Brooklyn home and shot him in the back of the head before fleeing with an expensive wristwatch, according to the release.

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

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

Pandrelo was convicted by a federal jury on the charge in June after a a week and a half trialaccording to a previous news release from the US Attorney’s Office.

Pandrela’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment, but he told the New York Daily News, “Anything above the 10-year statutory minimum would be death sentence.” Pandrela suffers from diabetes and gangrene, the publication reports.

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

This story was originally published October 6, 2022 at 6:50 p.m.