Wiseguy Joe Valet Gets Seven Years Plus In Prison (But Bonanno Boss Mikey Nose Didn't Shelve Him)

Bonanno capo Joseph (Joe Valet) Sabella was slammed with double the amount of prison time his lawyer had sought: He was sentenced to seven years plus about three months in prison last Friday by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.


Joe Sabella was promoted to capo during the time of the alleged crimes.


In February, Joe Valet pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, among other crimes. Then, the wiseguys he was supposed to go to trial with — Joe Cammarano and Porky Zancocchio — won acquittals. But then those two, and two others, were shelved by Bonanno boss Mickey Nose Mancuso who took offense at how the trial defense strategy depicted the consiglieri position, as Gang Land News reported.

What's it all mean for Joe Valet? The fck if I know.... But Gang Land noted last week that Sabella is "entitled to lots of second thoughts about the decision he made..."





Sabella was involved in a large-scale illegal dumping racket, he assaulted both a valet-parking business partner and a mob associate, and he participated in the long-term extortion of a Manhattan-based demolition company.

The dumping occurred at the LNG site of two liquefied natural gas tanks on Staten Island off Arthur Kill Road.

Manhattan federal prosecutors said Sabella called the shots for Joseph Prezioso, who was hired as a manager by the tank-site owner in 2013. In March, Prezioso admitted to lying to the feds about his and Sabella's roles in the dumping scam and was fined $50,000 and sentenced to six months of home confinement.

The probe revealed Sabella, who lives in Monroe, N.J., was “intimately involved” at the site between 2013 and February 2016, where he protected and advanced the Bonanno family's interests. (Sabella had no legitimate company working at the site, nor did he have a contract with the site owner or with any of the companies working there.)

Prezioso met with Sabella and other wiseguys to discuss who could dump material at the site, and rates they would be charged. Apparently, there was no limit to the amount of material that could be dumped. Also, mob-controlled companies were charged discounted rates.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation ultimately shuttered the site, leaving the owner with losses of up to $1.5 million.

Sabella didn’t hesitate to use violence, prosecutors said.

Around 2012, while trying to collect an alleged debt, Sabella assaulted a former valet parking business partner outside a Staten Island restaurant.

Then on Dec. 4, 2014, Sabella and two other Bonanno wiseguys beat up former Bonanno associate Steven Sabella (no relation, and Steven Sabella would’ve testified against the capo had he gone to trial) inside a Staten Island strip club. 

Joseph Prezioso



Then, Joseph Sabella and others extorted Steven Sabella's interests in two strip clubs, a gambling operation, and loansharking business, prosecutors said.

The long-term extortion of the Manhattan demolition company netted the Bonanno family thousands of dollars a year for nearly 30 years. 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated: “As he admitted in open court, Joseph Sabella was an active member of the Bonanno Crime Family who engaged in numerous racketeering acts. He will now spend years in prison for his crimes. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to aggressively prosecute members of La Cosa Nostra who intimidate, threaten, and harm members of our community.”




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