Reputed US mobster Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2001 slaying of a prominent Florida businessman during a power struggle over a lucrative fleet of gambling ships.
The jury also found Moscatiello, 77, guilty of murder conspiracy in the shooting death of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, founder of a chain of casinos and restaurants. Evidence showed Boulis was killed by a mob hit man, and Moscatiello was accused of ordering the slaying.
He faces the death penalty or life in prison. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for September, after which jurors will make a punishment recommendation. The judge has the final decision.
Moscatiello's wife, Marion, fainted after the verdict was read after yelling out that someone else was responsible for the Boulis murder. She was taken to a hospital.
Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari, who handled Florida matters for Moscatiello, was convicted previously and sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Moscatiello was a member of New York's Gambino crime family when he issued the fateful order for a hit. Moscatiello did not testify in his own defence, but his lawyers insisted that it was Ferrari and others who were to blame for the February 6, 2001, slaying.
At the time, Boulis, 51, was trying to retake control of SunCruz Casinos after selling the company to businessman Adam Kidan and his partner. Kidan paid Moscatiello and Ferrari thousands of dollars a month to handle security and other issues - including, prosecutors said, the use of Moscatiello's alleged mob ties for protection.
"He's the person everybody answers to," Assistant State Attorney Gregg Rossman said. "It all leads right back to him."
Key evidence included phone calls from Ferrari to Moscatiello, who was in New York, shortly after Boulis was fatally shot by a gunman who pulled up next to his car as he left his office.
Other organised crime figures and a former Ferrari associate testified that Moscatiello approached them initially about getting rid of Boulis before hiring a hit man to do the deed. The hit man was slain in an unrelated dispute in 2003.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: US mobster 'Big Tony' ordered hit on businessman
