Chef Ettore Mazzei drug ring

[furiofromnaples]

https://nypost.com/2024/05/22/us-news/n ... osecutors/

He and his co-defendants are accused of selling 20 grams of heroin, 461 grams of cocaine, and 140 suboxone strips to undercover officers over a 14-month period starting in March 2023, according to prosecutors.

[OcSleeper]

Son of Staten Island caterer accused of running drug ring busted in midnight raid, NYPD says
https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/202 ... -says.html

[Ivan]

Son of Staten Island caterer accused of running drug ring busted in midnight raid, NYPD says
https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/202 ... -says.html

Article for those without an SI Live account:

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The NYPD allegedly recovered a fresh stash of drugs and a fake assault rifle in a second round of major raids at a building linked to alleged cocaine kingpin Ettore Mazzei in Stapleton.
David Mazzei, the 34-year-old son of the prominent caterer who allegedly masterminded a drug-distribution network, was among suspects arrested after police armed with a search warrant swarmed 703 Bay St. on Friday at about 12:40 a.m., according to the criminal complaint and police.
Officers located the 34-year-old defendant inside the top floor of that building where he lives, according to authorities.
The criminal complaint alleges that officers recovered cocaine, including powder stashed in two plastic-zipper bags. In addition to a scale, drug paraphernalia confiscated included a glass pipe and straws tainted with cocaine residue. A white pill of the sedative alprazolam was seized.
During the search, the criminal complaint alleges that officers found an Airsoft AR-15 rifle in David Mazzei’s bedroom closet.
An undisclosed sum of cash and three cell phones also were confiscated by police, according to the criminal complaint.
The 34-year-old defendant has been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, and sale or possession of air pistols or rifles, according to the criminal complaint.
David Mazzei has pleaded not guilty to all charges and he is due to appear in Criminal Court in St. George on Thursday. Bail has been set at $200,000/$100,000 cash, according to public records.
An attorney for the 34-year-old did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police arrested three other people during the raid but information about those defendants is not yet available in public records.
Ettore Mazzei, an entrepreneur and chef, masterminded a major drug distribution network on Staten Island, authorities allege.
Mazzei, 61, owner of Chez Vous Catering at the historic Edgewater Hall, was indicted by a grand jury on 61 counts including criminal sale of a controlled substance, grand larceny, identity theft and falsifying business records.
The elder Mazzei, referred to in police wiretaps as “Maz,” was arrested in May in connection with police raids at two of his residential properties in Stapleton, steps from his restaurant and entertainment venues. His apprehension resulted from a two-year-investigation into the alleged sale of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl by his criminal enterprise.
In addition to charges of distributing cocaine, Ettore Mazzei stands accused of various financial crimes, one of which prosecutors say involved a woman who had died of a drug overdose.
He was arraigned in state Supreme Court, St. George, in May alongside two co-defendants who authorities say helped package and deal the narcotics: Ettore Mazzei’s 37-year-old daughter, Melissa, and a 51-year-old convicted felon from Staten Island.
Over a dozen other individuals were taken into custody as police raided three properties owned by the Ettore Mazzei.
One of the co-defendants, 51-year-old Gary Pulice of the 600 block of Midland Avenue in Midland Beach, has multiple prior felony convictions. In 2013, he was accused of assaulting a police officer during a traffic stop after he was found with a stash of cocaine and a scale.
Melissa Mazzei also is facing felony drug charges.
The investigation, dating back to December 2022, was spearheaded by the NYPD’s Narcotics Borough Staten Island, and the Narcotics-Investigations Bureau of the Richmond County District Attorney’s office, led by Assistant District Attorneys Michele Molfetta, Matthew Gamberg and Matthew Signorile.
‘A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT’
“He said that no one could take him down and that he was a formidable opponent,” said Gamberg of Ettore Mazzei in regard to alleged wiretap recordings. “He bragged about his many interactions with members of law enforcement.”
“Mazzei preyed on vulnerable people who suffered from addiction illness and oppressed them into servitude in his catering business, for housing and ultimately, for drug dealing,” wrote District Attorney Michael E. McMahon in a statement.
“The breadth of his criminal activity is truly mind-boggling. Mazzei built a labyrinth of crime including drug dealing, extortion, and fraud against numerous government programs including COVID-19 aid, housing support, food stamps, and other financial assistance. He is a successful businessman for sure — a crooked, evil businessman.”
2-YEAR INVESTIGATION
Over the course of a two-year investigation, the defendants are accused of making over a dozen sales to undercover officers in which tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of deadly narcotics changed hands, including: 461 grams of cocaine, 20 grams of heroin and 140 strips of the addiction-treatment drug Suboxone.
Ettore Mazzei first came onto law enforcement’s radar after multiple fatal overdoses on Staten Island were traced back to him by way of the RCDA’s Overdose Response Initiative, prosecutors said.
An investigation determined that two individuals, whose identities were redacted from court documents, would supply Ettore Mazzei, Pulice and Melissa Mazzei with cocaine.
During multiple buys carried out by undercover officers, Pulice indicated he was obtaining the narcotics from “Maz” at Edgewater Hall and a neighboring property, court documents allege.
On some occasions, Pulice received the drugs from the defendant’s daughter in the vicinity of her home address in a building owned by her father and steps from his businesses, the indictment reads.
Confidential informants and surveillance in Stapleton’s commercial corridor helped build a case around the defendants.
“The defendants’ alleged actions plagued neighborhoods in Staten Island by littering the streets with illegal narcotics that led to overdose deaths and endangered countless more New Yorkers,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban in a statement in May.

[TommyGambino]

Are they connected?

[Tonyd621]

Is this guy associated with anybody?
This guy seems very arrogant or oblivious to what's going on around him. Over a dozen purchases by undercover? That's over-kill by LE imo, but at the same just greed by the sellers. Your not stashing it at a different location? Your selling and storing drugs out of your primary residence and the only legitimate business you have? The only problem with LE in this case is this:
Controlled buy(s) of suboxone? Really? These cops, this is what they get paid to do? Give me a break. It's almost laughable as charging people for fake osha cards.

[furiofromnaples]

Is this guy associated with anybody?
This guy seems very arrogant or oblivious to what's going on around him. Over a dozen purchases by undercover? That's over-kill by LE imo, but at the same just greed by the sellers. Your not stashing it at a different location? Your selling and storing drugs out of your primary residence and the only legitimate business you have? The only problem with LE in this case is this:
Controlled buy(s) of suboxone? Really? These cops, this is what they get paid to do? Give me a break. It's almost laughable as charging people for fake osha cards.

For me wanted to play the role of Scarface but with 20 grams of heroin, 461 grams of cocaine, and 140 suboxone strips sold to undercover officers over a 14-month period starting in March 2023, according to prosecutors. He was more a small time drug dealer. If he was connected he should sold more dope in 14 months.
And anyway he was a celeb chef he for what he sold,is enought to go to prison for years?

[Amershire_Ed]

Is this guy associated with anybody?
This guy seems very arrogant or oblivious to what's going on around him. Over a dozen purchases by undercover? That's over-kill by LE imo, but at the same just greed by the sellers. Your not stashing it at a different location? Your selling and storing drugs out of your primary residence and the only legitimate business you have? The only problem with LE in this case is this:
Controlled buy(s) of suboxone? Really? These cops, this is what they get paid to do? Give me a break. It's almost laughable as charging people for fake osha cards.

For me wanted to play the role of Scarface but with 20 grams of heroin, 461 grams of cocaine, and 140 suboxone strips sold to undercover officers over a 14-month period starting in March 2023, according to prosecutors. He was more a small time drug dealer. If he was connected he should sold more dope in 14 months.
And anyway he was a celeb chef he for what he sold,is enought to go to prison for years?

Yeah the Post calling this a “massive” drug ring is quite the exaggeration.