Gambino mobster gets life in prison for South Florida murder
A Broward County judge sentenced Anthony "Big Tony"
Moscatiello to life in prison for the mob-connected 2001 murder of
Miami Subs founder Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.
Judge
Ilona Holmes announced the sentencing Thursday shortly after a jury
recommended that Moscatiello serve life in prison for ordering the hit
on Boulis.
The nine women and three men on the
jury deliberated for about three hours and 15 minutes before reaching
their decision shortly after 3:30 p.m.
After Holmes announced her decision,
Moscatiello turned to Boulis' nephew, Spiros Naos, who was sitting in
the front row, and said, "I truly am sorry for what happened to Gus, but
I assure you that I had nothing to do with it."
Naos did not respond to the comment, but he read a prepared statement outside of the courtroom.
"Although there is nothing that can fulfill the void of Gus passing, I feel that justice did unfold as it should," he said.
Assistant state attorney Brian Cavanagh was less muted in his response to Moscatiello's words.
"I wouldn't believe a word out of that convicted killer's mouth even if hell were to freeze over," Cavanagh told Local 10 News.
Moscatiello,
76, was convicted in July of murder and murder conspiracy in the fatal
shooting of Boulis during a dispute over the lucrative SunCruz Casinos
fleet of gambling ships. Evidence showed that Boulis was shot by a hit
man hired by Moscatiello, a reputed member of New York's Gambino crime
family.
On Wednesday, several of Moscatiello's family members took the stand, portraying the convicted killer as a family man.
During
his retrial, one of the state's key witnesses was a man who admitted to
being ordered to get rid of the gun used in the shooting.
James "Pudgy" Fiorillo told the court that he threw the gun off a Miami Beach bridge.
Witnesses said the gunman, John "J.J." Gurino, was later killed in a dispute with a Boca Raton delicatessen owner.
Fiorillo
accepted a plea deal with the state, agreeing to testify against
Moscatiello and Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari in exchange for pleading
guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. He served 6 1/2 years in prison
and has since been released.
Ferrari is serving a life sentence for his role in the murder.
Moscatiello did not testify in his own defense. Instead, his lawyers sought to pin the shooting on Ferrari.
"The
jury has convicted him and he can't even accept the jury's verdict, so
his apology was, 'I'm sorry Gus was killed, but I had nothing to do with
it.' That's pretty hollow," prosecutor Gregg Rossman said.
Moscatiello's 2013 trial ended in a mistrial when his attorney became ill.
His attorneys have 30 days to appeal the sentence.
http://www.local10.com/news/jurors-to-begin-deliberations-in-big-tony-sentencing-hearing/35322578
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