Diamond District 'Godfather' Gets Life In Prison, Feds Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A man dubbed the "Godfather" of the Diamond District by New York's tabloids was sentenced to life in prison this week, federal prosecutors said.

Hector Rivera was sentenced to life plus 25 years for ordering the hit of jeweler Eduard Nektalov in 2004, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced. Rivera was convicted on charges of murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire conspiracy and use of a firearm resulting in death in November, prosecutors said.

"Hector Rivera ordered the execution-style murder of Eduard Nektalov, who was brazenly gunned down on a crowded street in midtown Manhattan nearly 14 years ago," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement. "Thanks to the extraordinary work of our law enforcement partners, Rivera will now spend the rest of his life in prison."

Rivera paid a hitman and one other person $30,000 to murder Nektalov due to a business dispute between the jeweler and a criminal colleague of Rivera, prosecutors said. On May, 20, 2004 a hitman stalked Naktalov outside his Midtown jewelery store and opened fire on the man on a busy street during rush hour, prosecutors said.

The hitman shot Nektalov once in the head and twice in the back on the crowded Sixth Avenue sidewalk, prosecutors said. The jeweler was pronounced dead at the scene 20 minutes after the shooting, police said.

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