FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSmiami/AP) — Two men charged with murder in the mob style slaying of a South Florida businessman will not be going to trial.
Anthony “Big Tony” Moscitello and Anthony “Little Tony” Ferrari both accepted plea deals on Thursday in the 2001 fatal shooting of Miami Sub founder Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis.
Both men were previously convicted in the murder, but those convictions were overturned.
A panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of Moscatiello. Their decision based on testimony by witness Joseph Marley, who recounted a conversation with another suspect, John “J.J.” Gurino.
Marley testified that Gurley told him he “got the work from Moscatiello” who was alleged to be a member of the Gambino crime family.
Marley and Gurino were dead at the time of Moscatiello’s trial, so the testimony from the bond hearing was improperly used, the appeals court ruled.
An appeals court overturned Ferrari’s conviction because the judge improperly allowed the jury to hear cellphone evidence that was obtained without a warrant.
Moscatiello is accused of hiring mob hitman Gurino to kill Boulis during a dispute over the SunCruz Casinos fleet of gambling ships.
Boulis was slain while trying to retake control of SunCruz after selling it to businessman Adam Kidan and his partner, former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Kidan was paying Moscatiello and his associate, Ferrari, thousands of dollars each month to handle security, beverage supply, and other work — payments that Boulis opposed.
Boulis, 51, was fatally shot by Gurino as he sat in his car in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, 2001, according to trial testimony. Cars blocked Boulis in from front and back, with Gurino firing the fatal shots from a black Mustang that pulled up to the driver’s side. Gurino was later killed in a dispute with a Boca Raton delicatessen owner.
Neither Kidan nor Abramoff were ever charged in the Boulis slaying, although Kidan testified for the prosecution against both Moscatiello and Ferrari.
Abramoff and Kidan both served federal prison sentences after pleading guilty to fraud in the $147.5 million SunCruz purchase. Abramoff also was the main figure in a Washington corruption scandal that resulted in charges against 21 people.
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)