BUST IN RUBOUT
‘Taliban’ hit Mafia guy, attacked son: cops
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 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 Luchese 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.
He is also on parole for an assault and burglary conviction. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay Gerdes said Blanco was released from prison last year after serving 12 years.