Prisco was partially disabled - reportedly a piece of one leg had been destroyed by gunshots and the healed limb was somewhat shorter than the other.

About 1910, he began targeting Pasquarella Spinelli, a woman who ran a profitable stable in the middle of East Harlem. (According to some sources, Spinelli also led a rival group of thieves from the stable.) Spinelli apparently resisted Zopo's demands.

On Oct. 29, 1911, Prisco sent a thug, Chuck Minaco, to the house Spinelli shared with her 20-year-old step-daughter to collect blackmail money. Minaco reportedly gained access at 239 E. 109th Street by telling the step-daughter, Nelly Lenere, that he had information about her estranged husband who was near death. Within the house, Minaco began beating Lenere to learn the combination to the household safe, according to press reports. Once he learned the combination he went over to the safe and began trying to open it. Lenere approached him and stabbed him to death. (She did a thorough job of it - the papers say there were 25 stab wounds in Minaco's corpse.)

While Prisco plotted a means of restoring his prestige, Spinelli and Lenere moved to a more strategic location, 335 E. 107th Street, just across the street from the stable. The new home afforded Lenere the opportunity to watch helplessly through the front window on March 20, 1912, as Prisco and an associate approached the stable and shot Spinelli to death. (Lenere fled the country and was reportedly killed in Italy.)

His reputation restored, Zopo turned his attention to an especially ripe target, Giosue Gallucci. Gallucci was widely regarded as the racket king of Italian Harlem, running a profitable policy (numbers) operation as well as a number of successful businesses. According to some reports, Prisco had killed Gallucci's brother in 1911 when he refused to pay the extortionist.

In December 1912, he approached Giosue. A meeting was set up between the two for Dec. 16. Gallucci did not show up but sent a representative to bring Prisco to the back room of Gallucci's bake shop. Upon arriving there, Prisco was shot to death by Gallucci bodyguard John Russomano.

Prisco was out of business, but his organization continued terrorizing Harlem (and Russomano in particular) for a couple more years.