Another Bloods gang member busted in murder of Bonanno associate
A gangster known as “Taliban” was busted for his role in the October execution of a veteran Mafia associate at a McDonald’s drive-thru — and a botched hit three months earlier on his son, authorities said Friday.
Herman "Taliban" Blanco, 33, of the Bronx, was arraigned Friday afternoon in
Brooklyn Federal Court over his role in the Oct. 4 killing of Sylvester "Sally Daz" Zottola and the attempted slaying of Salvatore Zottola — a
hit ordered in an effort to “lure out” the father, according to a
federal criminal complaint.
The
71-year-old old victim, a longtime organized crime figure in the Bronx,
was waiting for a cup of coffee at the fast-food restaurant when he was
shot repeatedly by a gunman who fled on foot. Zottola was died at the
scene.
Brooklyn
gangbanger Bushawn "Shelz" Shelton, 34, was arrested last month for his
alleged role in the two Zottola shootings. The complaint against Blanco
was filed by an FBI agent assigned to a squad investigating Balkan and
Middle Eastern organized crime.
A
cooperating federal witness told authorities that Blanco approached him
in the spring of this year offering cash for the killing of “John Doe
#1,” the six-page complaint recounted.
“Shelton later informed the (witness) … that the purpose of killing John Doe #1 was to lure out Zottola,” the complaint alleged.
Son
Salvatore Zottola, 41, though not identified by name in court papers,
survived a July 11 murder attempt outside his waterfront home in the
Bronx.
Court
papers identified the elder Zottola as a Lucchese family associate with
ties to now-imprisoned ex-Bonanno family boss Vincent "Vinnie Gorgeous"
Basciano.
Authorities said telephone records indicated Blanco and Shelton shared frequent cell phone chats between March and October 2018.
And
the cooperating witness in the case actually went with the two suspects
to pick up a gun before driving to Salvatore Zottola’s home to lie in
wait for the target. The would-be victim never appeared that day, the
complaint said.
His
father similarly escaped death in multiple threatening incidents over
the last year, including a December 2017 attack inside his Bronx
apartment where three masked invaders stabbed Sylvester Zottola
repeatedly in the neck and chest.
Shelton’s wife Takeisha, in court papers filed Tuesday, sought to quash a subpoena seeking her to testify against her husband.
“As
the law … makes clear, Ms. Shelton cannot be compelled to offer
evidence against her husband in a criminal proceeding,” wrote her
attorney Florian Miedel.
Prosecutors
suggested, without identifying another suspect, that they might ask Ms.
Shelton to testify against another target of the probe.
Blanco, described by prosecutors as a known Bloods member, is being held without bail.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-metro-mob-hit-second-arrest-20181116-story.html
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