{"id":687990,"date":"2026-03-28T13:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T13:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/687990\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T13:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T13:41:15","slug":"crooked-evil-nyc-caterer-says-hes-a-protected-class-because-hes-sicilian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/687990\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Crooked, evil’ NYC caterer says he’s a ‘protected class’ \u2014 because he’s Sicilian"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Staten Island catering kingpin who allegedly ran a massive drug operation that turned addicts into virtual slaves whined in a hand-written, jailhouse lawsuit that he should receive extra consideration in the civil case because he\u2019s Sicilian.<\/p>\n

Acting as his own lawyer, Ettore Mazzei \u2014 who was once described as a \u201ccrooked, evil businessman\u201d \u2014<\/a> claimed in a March 20 Brooklyn Federal Court filing that he is \u201cpart of a protected class: senior, Sicilian, pro-se, incarcerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mazzei, 63, has been behind bars since his May 2024 arrest on a 61-count indictment that included drug sale, grand larceny and identity theft charges. <\/p>\n

\"ettoreMazzei, 63, has filed half a dozen lawsuits since his 2024 arrest. Steve White for NY Post<\/p>\n

In September 2024 he was hit with an additional 141 counts<\/a>, said Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon, who has labeled Mazzei a \u201cone man crime wave.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case \u2014 in which authorities accused the longtime entrepreneur of tricking addicts into \u201cservitude\u201d to help run drugs \u2014 is ongoing.<\/p>\n

Mazzei allegedly gave employees housing on his properties and paid them in drugs, not cash, according to authorities who claim the caterer is linked to multiple fatal overdoses.<\/p>\n

Mazzei, who ran Chez Vous Caterers and a construction business, was accused of selling heroin, cocaine and suboxone strips to undercover officers.<\/p>\n

He had been active in anti-drug initiatives on Staten Island in the years before his arrest, and was even recognized by the local chamber of commerce for his community work.<\/p>\n

Mazzei, who pleaded not guilty, published a book in 2014 called, \u201cIt\u2019s Your Right to Be Fit, Sexed and Happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"mazzeiMazzei was considered a pillar of the community before his arrest. Steve White<\/p>\n

Mazzei has been his own legal eagle at Rikers Island, where he\u2019s being held on $3 million bail.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s aired grievances against an array of foes via approximately half a dozen lawsuits he\u2019s filed himself in state and federal court.<\/p>\n

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In the latest court papers, he accused a pair of lawyers and a Queens couple of refusing to repay a debt and demanded $450,000 damages, court papers showed. <\/p>\n

Mazzei alleged he was part of a \u201cprotected\u201d group, citing a portion of federal law which is supposed to shield people from discrimination, particularly when making contracts.<\/p>\n

A criminal defense attorney for Mazzei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Staten Island catering kingpin who allegedly ran a massive drug operation that turned addicts into virtual slaves…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":687991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,11307,4219,1230,336,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,9294,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-687990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arrests","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-drugs","12":"tag-lawsuits","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-staten-island","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116307092421574644","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}