Anthony Moschetto (left) and his attorney Randy Zelin leave court Friday. Photo: Victoralcorn.com
He allegedly plotted to kill a rival doctor — but the suspect’s lawyer is still a big fan of his James Bond-worthy weapons room.
Attorney Randy Zelin is downright impressed by cardiologist Anthony Moschetto’s cache of more than 100 weapons, some of which were illegally owned — and simply insisted, “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Moschetto kept his creepy collection of arms stashed away in a basement lair hidden behind a motorized bookcase in his sprawling Sands Point, LI, mansion, authorities said.
“First of all, it’s kind of cool,” Zelin gushed outside of Nassau County Supreme Court.
“Second of all, you wouldn’t want children or anyone else to have access to it.”
Investigators stumbled upon Moschetto’s weapons room on Tuesday while arresting him on a host of charges, including conspiracy in a murder-for-hire plot, criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance, arson and burglary.
Inside they found a weapons cache, including a hand grenade, an AR-15 rifle, an M1 carbine loaded with illegal, high-capacity magazines, and knives.
Authorities are still combing through the collection to determine which weapons were obtained illegally, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said.
Moschetto is accused of hiring two goons through an intermediary to burn down the practice of his former medical partner, Dr. Martin Handler, whom he’d had a falling out with last November.
When the fire scheme was foiled by a sprinkler system, authorities say he then stepped up his sinister plot, unwittingly forking over cash and blank prescription pads to an undercover officer to have Handler killed or severely assaulted.
Moschetto appeared in Nassau County Court Friday, where he didn’t say a word about the case.
But he’s itching to don his doctor’s coat and start treating patients again, his lawyer said.
“I am aware of nothing that is prohibiting him from going back to work,” Zelin said.
He claimed Moschetto won’t be able to practice medicine until prosecutors return his patient files, which were seized as part of the investigation.
“At this point I see no reason why we can’t reach an agreement where those things he needs to be a doctor are going to be given back to him,” he said.
“This is a man who’s in the business of saving people’s lives, and I don’t think anybody wants to get in the way of that.”
Officials said the files will be returned to Moschetto when he hands over a hard drive with the information.
The cardiologist is currently barred from prescribing medicine, since he surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration registration upon his arrest, a DEA spokesperson said.
The state Department of Health did not return requests for comment on the status of his medical license.
Some of Moschetto’s acquaintances are still stunned by the disturbing charges against the allegedly demented doc. High school pal Joseph Rizzo remembered Moschetto as a “kind and friendly guy.”
Moschetto is out on bail and due back in court on May 6.
Source: http://nypost.com/2015/04/18/weapons-cache-turns-on-plotting-cardiologists-lawyer/
