Murder-for-hire susps to judges: Free us, we’re in danger
A pair of federal inmates accused in separate murder-forhire plots — one of which was successful — asked judges to release them Monday amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Valerie Cincinelli, a former NYPD officer accused of trying to kill her estranged husband and her boyfriend’s daughter, and Bushawn Shelton, tied up in a Bronx mob hit at a McDonald’s that killed
Bonanno family veteran Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola, asked judges to release them from Brooklyn’s federal lockup on bail during the coronavirus pandemic.
Shelton’s lawyers argued that he should be released on $2 million bail and home detention so he and his defense team can adequately prep for a trial that could result in Shelton getting the death penalty. Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Correctional Center has suspended all lawyer visits to the jail.
“With the alarming dearth of legal visitation that has been allowed for weeks now, it is inconceivable how Mr. Shelton’s team will be able to maintain the regular visitation with him that is required in a capital case,” wrote Shelton’s lawyers in their application.
A co-defendant in Shelton’s case, Anthony Zottola Sr., already had his COVID-19-related bail application rejected by a judge.
While Cincinelli’s application for bail was not publicly available, the government’s opposition to it was clear, saying that Cincinelli did not bring up anything new from her last bail arguments, which a judge rejected. Federal prosecutors also noted that Cincinelli is not at high risk if she contracts COVID-19.
“The defendant, a healthy 35-year-old woman, does not claim to be at any particular risk of contracting the virus or experiencing serious illness if she does, and she concedes that the [federal Bureau of Prisons] has not identified any risk factors that would justify designating her ‘high risk,’” wrote prosecutors in court papers.
Cincinelli allegedly paid her boyfriend to off her estranged husband, but her boyfriend began cooperating with the feds when he learned his underage daughter was also on Cincinelli’s kill list, according to prosecutors. There were no immediate rulings in either case.