It was a patricide planned over text messages, the feds say.

Anthony Zottola, who’s on trial for ordering a hit on his mobster dad, kept in constant contact with the gang leader he hired for the job — even after his father lay dead in a Bronx McDonald’s drive thru, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Dean argued Thursday.

In her closing argument in Brooklyn Federal Court, Dean laid out a year’s worth of text messages, lining them up with the many attempts to kill Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola, culminating with his murder at the McDonald’s on Oct. 4, 2018.

Sylvester "Sally Daz" Zottola (Obtained by New York Daily News)

Zottola’s son, who sought control of the family real estate business, helped the murderers every step of the way, referring to the attempts as setting up a hockey game, or getting coffee for a waiter, or finding a boat to go fishing, Dean said.

“There’s not a lot of mental gymnastics necessary to decipher the code. It’s pretty straightforward. They’re not in the fishing industry. There’s no actual sea captain,” she said. “There’s no actor, producer, no set for a movie or a film.”

Anthony Zottola, 44, enlisted Bloods leader Bushawn Shelton to kill the 71-year-old mob patriarch, a job that got done after a year of botched attempts and false starts, Dean said.

He also hired Shelton to try and kill his older brother, Salvatore Zottola, prosecutors said, but the sibling somehow survived being shot twice in the head that July 11.

Before a group of men nearly stabbed Sally Daz to death in a Dec. 27, 2017 home invasion, Zottola texted Shelton, “We have to finish film ASAP cause now I am really messed up if we don’t by tonight... I got the keys to the dressing room.”

Sally Daz after he was stabbed on Dec. 27, 2017. (DLash/Eastern District of New York)

Days before the murder, Shelton placed a GPS device that looked like a hockey puck on Sally Daz’s car.

Then, on Oct. 2, 2018, Zottola texted Shelton, “How things went at hockey game?” she said. The murder was still two days off, and the team was waiting for the right time, so Shelton texted back, “the machine is still cleaning the ice.”

“You don’t need to bring in Sherlock Holmes to solve them. These codes are easy to figure out,” Dean said.

Dean made it a point to highlight what Zottola and Shelton talked about in a string of texts minutes after Sally Daz’s murder — after his father’s girlfriend frantically called him to say that she was on the phone with Sally Daz right before she heard gun shots, then nothing at all.

Anthony Zottola (BWissel/Eastern District of New York)

“Anthony does what he has to do. He plays the role of the concerned son. He calls his dad. He calls his dad. He calls his dad. And then he calls his brother,” Dean said.

But he was also communicating with Shelton, who asked him, “Can we party today or tomorrow.”

Zottola responded, “Tomorrow most likely. I have a dr appointment in morning and I meet later. I hear you. I have the cases of water for you in a day or so.”

After that, Zottola texted, “It’s my lil man bday. I am taking him to his favorite place McDonalds (then) a movie. Lol. Like I can eat that stuff. Thank you for being a great friend my man.”

Dean pointed out the timing. “This is four minutes after he’s called his own brother with the news” that Sally Daz’s girlfriend called him. “He is making a joke about his father being dead in a drive thru.”

Sally Daz was shot and killed in the drive-through lane at a McDonald's on Webster Ave. in the Bronx on Oct. 4, 2018. (Nina Cochran/New York Daily News)

The next day, Zottola and Shelton met at a Taco Bell and handed the gang member a case carrying water bottles and massive stacks of cash, Dean said.

Himen Ross, who’s accused of shooting both Sally Daz and Sylvester Zottola, and alleged wheelman Alfred Lopez, are also on trial.

Ross’ lawyer, Michael Marinaccio, told the jury that no witness put his client on any of the shooting scenes.

“The government will rely on machines for evidence, but machines can’t tell you who’s driving a car. Machines can’t tell you who’s holding a phone,” he said. “I submit to you ladies and gentlemen that you cannot tell from those videos who the shooter is. You cannot make out anything except a shadowy figure. That’s it.”

Lopez’s lawyer, John Burke, made a similar point, and said his client lent out the car prosecutors say was used in the murder.

Zottola’s lawyers will make their closing argument Friday.

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News