Failed Bloods gang hitman says he wants to work with CHILDREN following release from prison

By James On Sep 15, 2022

A clumsy hit man who tried six times to kill a mob operative and his son would like to work with children when released from prison, he told a Brooklyn court.

Ron Cabey, 32, testified Wednesday that he was paid $10,000 from a Bloods gang leader, Bushawn Shelton, to kill Salvatore Zottola, 45, and his father Sylvester, known as “Sally Daz.”

Sylvester Zottola was shot and killed in October 2018 at the age of 71 at a McDonald’s drive-through in the Bronx. His son survived all attempts to kill him.

Prosecutors allege that Shelton was in turn contracted by Sylvester Zottola’s son Anthony – Salvatore’s brother – who wanted his father and brother dead so he could take over their mafia-linked real estate company.

Cabey, who was arrested in June 2018 and is working with prosecutors in hopes of a reduced sentence, spent Tuesday and Wednesday describing his long criminal career.

Ron Cabey, 32, was pictured Wednesday discussing his career as a mugger and then a hitman

Bushawn Shelton (right), a Bloods mobster, was accused of orchestrating the hit against Sylvester (left) through his associates

Cabey previously angrily denied Macedonio’s attempt to discredit him as a “rat” who would say anything to take her client down and reduce his own sentence.

He then told Elizabeth Macedonio, who represents the accused killers, that he wanted to work with children after his release from prison.

“Do you intend to kidnap those children?” she asked. ‘Are you going to help them with their homework, sir? Are you going to teach them homework, sir?’

Cabey is pictured being questioned by defense attorney Elizabeth Macedonio

Sylvester Zottola, who paid dues to the infamous Lucchese and Bonanno mob families, was shot multiple times during a drive-thru at a McDonald’s in the Bronx in October 2018 — four months after Cabey was arrested. Another hit man, Himan Ross, would have pulled the trigger

Pictured: Sylvester Zottola’s car was full of bullet holes as he ordered coffee

Anthony Zottola has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, in which death was caused by use of a firearm and unlawful use and possession of firearms. Pictured: Police on the scene shortly after the elder Zottola was shot in the Bronx

The Bloods and the Mob alliance in the Zottola assassination case

Anthony Zottola hired a Bloods street mobster Bushawn “Shelz” Shelton to murder his father Sylvester “Sally Daz” Zottola, 71, an associate of the Bonanno and Lucchese crime families, in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. The contract killing is a rare example of New York City street gangs collaborating with the mafia.

Here’s what you need to know about the criminal enterprises involved in the case.

Lucchese crime family – One of the most powerful of the five families of the American Mafia in New York City. The Luchese family, also known as ‘Lukes’, was originally entrenched in rackets around the clothing industry. It gets its name from its second crime boss Tommy Luchese, who was a generally peaceful boss from 1951 to 1967. That changed, led by Victor “Little Vic” Amuso aka “The Deadly Don” and his underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Caso, who spent one of the deadliest periods of organized crime from the early 1980s through the early 1990s. ushered in crime. They are estimated to be responsible for over 100 hits and have even been deployed to NYPD police officers to carry out some of their rubouts. The mafia organization suffered a serious blow in 2017 when some 17 members were charged with extortion, murder, money laundering, illegal gambling, narcotics and selling illegal cigarettes.

Bonanno crime family – Named again after the second leader of the criminal enterprise, Joseph ‘Joe Bananas’ Bonanno, who earned his title at the age of 26. The family primarily dealt in illegal gambling, raking loans, and drugs, but expanded their operations beyond New York to California, Arizona, and Canada. The crime family’s most infamous episodes occurred in the mid-1970s when FBI Agent Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, infiltrated the organization and documented criminal exploits, bringing in more than 200 charges and 100 convictions for his work. The operation became a big movie starring Johnnie Depp. The elder Zottola is connected to the family through former Bonanno boss Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, who is currently serving life in prison without parole on various charges of murder and racketeering.

The Bloods – The gang started with a black street crew in Los Angeles, California, but has grown into a loose network in the United States. Bloods are distinguished from other street gangs, such as the Crips, by wearing red. Their initiation, also called a ‘Blood in’ ceremony, involves the recruit being brutally beaten by the current gang members. The East Coast Bloods were founded in the Rikers Island prison in the early 1990s as a way to protect black inmates from Latin American gang members in the Latin Kings or the Netas behind bars. The Bloods traded in narcotics, but in 2007 the New Jersey Attorney General broke up an illegal gambling, drug and loan shark gang in conjunction with the Lucchese crime family.

Cabey was called a rat by another hit man, Himan Ross, who, according to prosecutors, ultimately killed Sylvester Zottola.

“You’re a rat, aren’t you?”

Cabey replied, “I’m not a rat. I’m an employee.’

By Tuesday, Cabey had detailed his six attempts to kill the father and son.

The Harlem-based career criminal said he was a member of a robbery gang from 2015 to 2018.

“I got hooked on the real fast life — women, attention, punching power, that sort of thing,” he said.

He was arrested in January 2018 for a Times Square robbery and was forced to leave his team.

He told his accomplice of the robbery that he wanted to “get right to the point” – meaning he wanted to be a hit man – and Cabey was then approached by Shelton, who had in turn been approached by Anthony Zottola.

Shelton told Cabey to kill the Salvatore Zottola and gave him a driver, a gun, “keys, a PIN, and a detailed schematic of his schedule.”

The plan, Cabey said, was to kill Salvatore Zottola in order to lure his father Sylvester out of hiding — so he too could be killed.

“He should pay for the funeral,” Cabey said.

Then began his farcical attempts to carry out the murders.

First, Cabey went to Salvatore Zottola’s house in the Locust Point district of the Bronx, under the Throgs Neck Bridge, but was interrupted by patrolling police.

The second time, Cabey’s driver, “Dot,” was arrested before they could even get to the Bronx.

The third time, Cabey typed the wrong padlock PIN while trying to break into Salvatore Zottola’s home, and was again spotted by the police, so he fled.

Shelton then told Cabey that the plan had changed and that he would now target the father, Sylvester Zottola, directly.

Cabey was shocked when a police van set up a patrol post in a park near the aging gangster’s home in the Bronx.

In June 2018, they tried again with a new driver, Himen Ross, but Salvatore was at his father’s house, recognized their van and called the police.

The couple crashed into the van and fled.

On the sixth attempt, Sylvester Zottola was armed and fired a warning shot.

Cabey fled, but was arrested.

Ross reportedly escaped and completed the job, killing the 71-year-old four months later, in October 2018.

In her opening statements on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Lash told jurors that Sylvester Zottola, who paid dues to the infamous Lucchese and Bonanno mob families, had spent years trying to evade his life by goons stabbing and beating him.

Lash said Sylvester was able to survive any potential killer until the 2018 shooting, which she believes was Anthony’s mastermind to seize his father’s belongings.

“The defendant wanted that check,” Lash said.

Along with his real estate empire, prosecutors said Sylvester ran an illegal poker machine vending machine.