A 35-year-old Florida man, Anthony Brillante II, has been found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill witnesses, a prosecutor, and an FBI agent while he awaited trial for cyberharassment.
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Originally, according to a November 2023 release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, Brillante was arrested for cyberharrassing three victims, all members of his family.
Between 2021 and 2022, Brillante spent 15 months sending tens of thousands of phone calls and text messages to his cousin, her husband, and their 12-year-old daughter. The content of these messages and calls included explicit threats to kill them.
Specifically, Brillante threatened his family members to shoot them in the face or run them over with the car. He even messaged the 12-year-old, saying that he was planning to kill her parents. Further investigation revealed that Brillante was also harassing another cousin and her husband.
Brillante was arrested in August 2022. Upon inspection, Brilante’s cellphones revealed that he planned to bribe a law enforcement officer to find out his victims’ new phone numbers. They had changed them due to the incessant harassment.
However, things took a turn for the worse. Brillante, while awaiting trial for his cyberharassment charge, attempted to hire a hitman to kill his family members.
Murder-For-Hire
In October 2023, a month before his cyberharrassment trial was set to start, Anthony Brillante II paid $40,000 in advance to the hitman, according to a new release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida.
On October 29, 2023, Brillante met with the so-called hitman, hiring him to kill his cyberharrassment victims. Additionally, he also hired the hitman to kill the investigating FBI special agent and the prosecuting Assistant United States Attorney.
Unbeknownst to Brillante, the “hitman” was actually an undercover FBI agent, and his murderous plans came to a close.
Despite his efforts, Brillante was convicted of cyberharassment and sentenced to nine years in prison.
On July 11, 2025, Brillante was found guilty of attempted murder of an employee of the United States, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.
He will be sentenced on October 1, 2025.