BK Man Ordered Assassination At Bronx Fast Food Joint: Feds

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn man was charged with organizing a fast-food joint assassination that took place the same day reputed mobster Sylvester Zottola was gunned down outside a Bronx McDonald's, court records show.

Bushawn "Shelz" Shelton, 34, was charged Thursday with conspiring to murder a son and father who were ultimately killed in a drive-through lane of an unnamed fast food restaurant on Oct. 4, a federal complaint shows.

While Shelton's victims are not named in the complaint, the time and place correspond with the attack on Zottola, an alleged Luchese mobsters who was shot dead near a Claremont McDonald's on Webster Avenue at the same date and time, according to a Daily News report.

An unidentified witness told investigators Shelton paid him last spring to assassinate a son, named as John Doe #2, and in doing so, lure out his father, John Doe #1, who should also be assassinated, according to the complaint.

Shelton repeatedly ordered the witness to go to the father's and son's homes and provided him with drivers to take him to The Bronx, the witness stated.

The complaint details a year of failed assassination attempts:

• A masked man in a dark van aimed a weapon at the father and son in The Bronx on Nov. 2.
• Three armed men repeatedly stabbed the father in the neck and chest inside his Bronx home on Dec. 27.
• A gunman pointed a weapon at the pair on April 16 and June 12.
• The driver of a red Nissan Altima repeatedly shot the son before jumping in the car and driving away on July 11.

The witness, who pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy, told investigators he finally killed the father when he stopped at a fast food restaurant in The Bronx on Oct. 4 at about 4:45 p.m., court records show.

It was at 4:45 on Oct. 4 that the Sylvester Zottola, 71, was shot once in the head, three times in the torso and once in the shoulder as he stopped for a cup of coffee at the McDonald’s, according to the Daily News.

Both Zottola and his son had been the victim of frequent assaults, the Daily News reported.

Law officials have since arrested Shelton, of East New York, and he is expected to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court Thursday afternoon, court officials said.

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps/May 2018