Death penalty on the table for five suspects accused of murdering Bonanno associate

Death penalty on the table for five suspects accused of murdering Bonanno associate

  December 19, 2018    Dapper_Don

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Bushawn "Shelz" Shelton
 
Five men could face the death penalty in a murder-for-hire scheme that led to the assassination of a reputed mobster who was gunned down while waiting for a McDonald’s coffee, authorities said Tuesday.
The men — including ex-cons Bushawn “Shelz” Shelton and Herman “Taliban” Blanco, both 34 — were charged in a superseding indictment that alleges they conspired to pull off the Oct. 4 rubout of Sylvester Zottola, 71.
The reputed Bonnano crime family associate — who was known as “Sally Daz” — was repeatedly shot while waiting in the drive-thru lane of a McDonald’s restaurant in The Bronx.
The hit is believed to have been ordered by Albanian gangsters who wanted to take over an illegal gambling racket involving “Joker Poker” video games that Zottola ran, law-enforcement sources have said.
A cooperating witness who claims that Shelton and Blanco hired him to serve as the hitman has been helping prosecutors build their case, according to previously filed court papers.
Shelton, who was paroled in 2012 after serving a three-year prison term for illegally possessing a handgun, was busted a week after Zottola’s slaying.
Blanco, who was sent to prison in 2009 for burglary and assault in Queens, was picked up on a parole violation and transferred to federal custody last month, records show.
The indictment handed up Thursday also names Herman “Taliban” Blanco, Arthur “Feddi Bossgod” Codner, Himen “Ace” Ross and Kalik McFarlane as co-defendants.
All five could all face the death penalty on two counts, murder-for-hire conspiracy and causing death through use of a firearm, according to the feds.
Codner, 30, of New Hampton, New York, Ross, 32, of The Bronx, and McFarlane, 36, of Brooklyn, were arrested Tuesday morning.

Herman “Taliban” Blanco

They all pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned later in the day and were ordered held without bail, a spokesman for Brooklyn US Attorney Richard Donoghue.
In addition to Zottola’s slaying, Shelton is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm that the feds identified as a .32-caliber Armi Tanfoglio Giuseppe pistol.
He’s also charged with perjury for signing a sworn affidavit about his finances — which defendants use to be assigned court-appointed defense lawyers — in which he claimed to have just $5,500 in cash and bank deposits.
When Shelton was first hauled into court following his arrest, a prosecutor said a search of his Brooklyn home — which he shares with his grandmother — turned up $45,000 in cash and a loaded gun.
His granny told the FBI that “he came into that money very recently, most notably after the murder” of Zottola, prosecutor Lindsey Gerdes added.
Shelton and Blanco are scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday.

https://nypost.com/2018/12/18/suspects-could-face-death-penalty-in-mobsters-murder/