RAT BITES BACK
Sez Bonanno big beat him in jiggle joint beef
A mob rat with a mean coke habit testified on Monday that accused Bonanno consigliere John Zancocchio beat him up in a Staten Island strip joint they once co-owned.
Former Bonanno associate Stephen Sabella was testifying in Manhattan Federal Court in the racketeering conspiracy trial of accused Bonanno crime boss Joseph Cammarano Jr. and Zancocchio.
He told the court that Zancocchio had taken a hefty cut of the proceeds of strip clubs they co-owned starting in 2000. Sabella said that by 2014, he, Zancocchio and other mobsters were operating Pulse Gentlemen’s Club.
Tensions had simmered between them for years and then Zancocchio became enraged by an unfounded rumor, Sabella testified without going into detail. A source familiar with the case said Zancocchio believed Sabella had acted inappropriately with Zancocchio’s daughter.
Sabella said that in the fall of 2014, he met Zancocchio, Joseph (Joe Valet) Sabella and Jerry Chili in the back room of Pulse. He said Zancocchio appeared angry, but still introduced him to Joe Sabella, to whom he was not related. After an awkward exchange of pleasantries, Zancocchio punched Stephen Sabella in the face.
“He continued to punch and kick me,” Sabella testified. “I just tried to fend off the blows.” The beating stopped when Chili yelled “Enough!” just as Zancocchio ruin. He started talking to the feds last year.
The beating is a key episode in the feds’ case against Zancocchio for loansharking and other racketeering offenses. He’s being tried alongside Cammarano. Both men deny being gangsters.
Zancocchio’s attorney John Meringolo said Sabella once told investigators that he had a $400 per week cocaine habit. He grilled Sabella about racist and homophobic posts he made on a Facebook page belonging to Zancocchio’s granddaughter.
Sabella made the posts around three weeks ago, after signing the cooperation agreement with the government. Sabella faces up to 25 years for racketeering conspiracy and illegal gambling.
“Your agreement did not get ripped up for posting that, right?” Meringolo asked.
“No it did not,” Sabella said. was about to drop a chair on Sabella’s head.
He was left with a bloody nose, black eye, fat lip and chipped tooth. But, Sabella said, “Being involved with organized crime, you don’t go to the police.”
“How do you feel about Mr. Zancocchio now?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Swergold asked. “I can’t stand the guy,” Sabella replied.
After the beatdown, Sabella said he was frozen out of his legitimate and illegitimate businesses involving gambling, loansharking and strip clubs. He testified that he lost about $2 million in an instant, destroying his marriage and leaving him in financial