NYC business owner arrested in Staten Island drug bust

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) -- A restaurant owner who rallied and donated money to help drug addicts stay out of jail has been arrested and charged with dealing drugs himself.

Police say Ettore Mazzei, a well-known philanthropist who owns Chez Vous Catering and Edgewater Hall on Staten Island, is allegedly the mastermind of a drug operation running out of his own restaurant.

Mazzei was indicted on 61 counts. Police also arrested close to 20 other people who they say were working for Mazzei.

While Mazzei has been honored for helping drug addicts get clean, police say that was just a front for his operation as he allegedly supplied addicts with drugs and in some cases, had them pay off their drug debt by working it off.

According to prosecutors, the defendants sold 20 grams of heroin, 461 grams of cocaine, and 140 Suboxone Strips to undercover officers over fourteen months beginning in March 2023.

Mazzei is also allegedly linked to multiple overdose deaths on Staten Island, according to officials.

There have also been recent acts of violence in and around Mazzei's Stapleton-based properties, including two shootings and an armed home invasion, prosecutors said.