Man Given Eight Years For Planning To Have Father Killed

By THOMAS KAPLAN Courant Staff Writer

NEW HAVEN - Frank DiMartino may have been a bad father, but a judge told his son Friday that was no excuse to put out a hit on him.Stephen DiMartino, 30, of North Branford, was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for hiring a friend to kill his father so he could gain a seven-figure inheritance.

In May, DiMartino agreed to plead guilty to first-degree attempted assault, but on Friday he had hoped to fight for a lesser sentence.Police said DiMartino hired Louis Dellavalle, 18, of New Haven, to go to Frank DiMartino's North Madison home and kill him. Stephen DiMartino stood to inherit millions - if his hit man hadn't gotten cold feet.

When Dellavalle, the brother of Stephen DiMartino's fiancée, came face to face with the elder DiMartino, police said, he reportedly told him that he could not go through with the deed and admitted Stephen DiMartino had hired him. The father immediately called the police.

Damiani gave DiMartino a 15-year sentence, suspended after eight years. The sentence carries a mandatory minimum of five years to be served and three years of probation.Dellavalle remains under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on July 19.

Contact Thomas Kaplan at tkaplan@courant.com.

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