The ex-boyfriend of a Queen’s sex worker has been busted in connection to the 2019 robbery and overdose death of Cipriani Dolci head chef Andrea Zamperoni, according to federal prosecutors.
Leslie Lescano, 44, was slapped in handcuffs Monday morning — a year and a half after authorities say he conspired with ex-gal pal Angelina Barini to lure the 33-year-old chef to the Kamway Lodge, then spike his drink with a date-rape drug.
Lescano told agents agents from Homeland Security Investigations that Barini typically used “liquid G” — referring to GBL — to knock men unconscious so she could rob them, according to sources and the criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court.
But that’s not how things ended for Zamperoni — with cops finding his corpse stuffed upside down in a garbage can in the corner of a room at the seedy motel in Elmhurst.
Lescano is charged with conspiring to distribute a controlled substance, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Barini, who was arrested in 2019 when police discovered her with Zamperoni’s body, has been indicted for the overdose deaths of two other clients. But she has not been charged for crimes related to Zamperoni.
The complaint alleges that their ill-fated venture began on Aug. 16, 2019, when Barini sent a message to Lescano on Facebook, saying: “I got a biznes opratunady for ya…I cute to the chase then i am willing to pay for ur servces [sic] … Are u with it?”
Lescano, also known as Ken Ween, replied, “Yes my queen,” federal prosecutors allege.
After Lescano signed on to help the 42-year-old blond temptress, he booked a room at the flophouse, which rents for as little as $67 night, according to the criminal complaint.
On Aug. 18, 2019, Lescano and Barini drove to the motel, and she later left then returned with Zamperoni at 4:58 a.m. and instructed Lescano to hide in the bathroom, prosecutors said.
When Lescano emerged, he allegedly told authorities that Zamperoni was passed out on the motel room floor, and Barini then handed him the doomed chef’s AmEx card.
In the following hour, Lescano took a stroll to a nearby Rite Aid to buy gift cards and personal hygiene products for Barini.
“Can u bye anthing shampoo condionerand [sic] body wash,” she requested before dispatching him to a deli to buy food with the stolen plastic, according to the criminal complaint. “Milk ceril reason brln cold cuts cherder chese [sic] cigs.”
Video surveillance captured Lescano leave a white plastic bag with the purchases on a bench outside the motel at 6:32 a.m, according to the complaint. He told Barini he had tucked Zamperoni’s credit card inside the pack of cigarettes. A few minutes later, Barini is seen on surveillance footage retrieving the bag, the complaint says.
At 1:30 p.m., Barini was allegedly captured on surveillance video exiting the motel and grabbing a garbage can from a nearby alley before dragging it back to her room.
Early the next day, the panicked femme fatale feverishly messaged friends on Facebook asking to borrow a hand truck, Homeland Security Investigations found, according to sources and court papers.
After Zamperoni was reported missing, NYPD officers tracked him to the motel and knocked on Barini’s door Aug. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
“Barini answered the door and quickly shut it,” the complaint says. A few minutes later, Barini opened the door again, releasing from the room a “strong odor consistent with the smell of a dead body and burning incense.”
In the corner of the room, cops noticed, “a garbage can with bed linens stuffed inside and what appeared to be a bare human foot sticking out,” according to prosecutors.
During a search of the room, authorities found “a glass containing a purple liquid with powder at the top of the liquid and around the rim, glass pipes commonly used for smoking narcotics and bottles of bleach and bleach-covered towels, electronics, a saw and an empty suitcase.”
Sources previously told The Post that Barini was being eyed in two other fatal overdoses and up to six grand larcenies.
Additional reporting by Gabrielle Fonrouge
