STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — During a court appearance Wednesday, Ettore Mazzei — the prominent Staten Island businessman accused of leading a criminal enterprise — claimed the prosecution’s case was “littered with lies, contradictions and falsehoods.”
Mazzei, dressed in beige, Rikers Island-issued sweats, had requested to speak at the hearing, to which Judge Mario F. Mattei cited was unorthodox. Mattei cautioned that anything said would be on the record.
But the entrepreneur, real estate developer and self-help author waved off the court’s precautions, then proceeded to lay out what he described as a false narrative by law enforcement since the time of his arrest…