Following a complex and disturbing case, Anthony Brillante II, 36, has been found guilty on charges of attempted murder and solicitation to commit violence among other crimes. According to the press release, the verdict was reached by a federal jury in Ft Lauderdale last Friday.
The conviction arose from a plot in which Brillante sought the assassination of a federal prosecutor and an FBI Special Agent involved in his previous cyber harassment case. As part of the scheme, executed shortly before his trial for cyber harassment was due to begin, Brillante directed $40,000 to fund the murders. An undercover FBI agent, who Brillante believed was a hitman contracted to carry out the killings, was met on October 29, 2023, by Brillante, the day prior to his scheduled trial.
Previously, Brillante had been arrested by the FBI for cyber harassing family members, where he inundated them with thousands of threatening calls and messages over a year-long span. The victims, which included his cousin and her family, faced vile threats, including murder. Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI, Miami Field Office, working alongside U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne, announced the outcome of the trial, as reported by a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Prosecutors from the Southern District of Florida, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio and Deric Zacca, are handling the case, with AUSA Daren Grove overseeing asset forfeiture aspects. While the sentenced Brillante to nine years’ imprisonment for cyber harassment, a sentence for the murder-for-hire conviction is scheduled on October 1.
