A former Passaic cop turned mob enforcer who served more
than a decade in prison for stabbing and beating a debtor was arrested Friday
by the FBI on charges of using threats of violence to collect a $30,000 debt.
Stefano Mazzola, 68, of Rockaway, was accused of threatening
to physically harm the victim if he did not repay the loan, which had been
transferred to Mazzola, authorities said.
The arrest complaint detailed two telephone conversations
recorded last month in which Mazzola allegedly used extortionate means to try
to collect the debt.
“Let me explain something to ya … and I don’t care who is
listening to my phone or not, if I want to do something to ya, I don’t give a
[expletive] if you give me a million dollars,” Mazzola allegedly said in the
first call, on Jan. 17. “If I’m looking to hurt ya, I’ll take the money and
still hurt ya.”
During the second call, on Jan. 23, the victim told Mazzola,
“You know you’re going to get paid.”
In response, Mazzola said: “I don’t believe nothing. But
listen, I know what I’m gonna do. ’Cause it doesn’t matter to me. It don’t
matter whether it’s now or 10 years from now. It don’t matter. You don’t
understand. You just don’t know me. I don’t give a [expletive] if an agent is
listening.”
Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, the
bald-headed Mazzola was brought in shackles before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark Thursday afternoon to be advised of the charges
and his rights.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Colone told the defendant he
could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the extortion charge. She
said the government was seeking detention on grounds that no combination of
conditions could guarantee his future appearances and the safety of the
community.
Mazzola’s attorney, Miles R. Feinstein, said he would submit
a bail package next week.
Outside the courtroom, Feinstein said his client “absolutely
denies that he did anything wrong.”
“There’s no doubt that there’s a defense in the case and
we’re confident that he’ll be vindicated,” Feinstein added.
“Since he’s been out of prison, he’s been leading an
exemplary life,” Feinstein said. “It’s our position that he has paid his debt
to society and there’s no justification for this particular charge.”
Mazzola, who once boasted on a wiretap that he opened a
victim’s head “like a cantaloupe,” was sentenced to 12½ years in prison in 1999
for assaulting a debtor in a Passaic store as part of a plot to collect an
$80,000 loan-sharking debt.
Mazzola, a reputed Genovese crime family associate, has also
previously served time on state armed robbery charges and a federal extortion
charge stemming from his involvement with the Genovese crew once headed by
Louis “Streaky” Gatto.