The ex-boyfriend of a Queens sex worker accused of helping her drug and rob a Cipriani chef hit up a casino while the victim lay dead on a motel room floor, prosecutors revealed Wednesday.
Assistant US Attorney Temidayo Aganga Williams said that although Leslie Lescano, 45, was not charged with the overdose death of Cipriani Dolci head chef Andrea Zamperoni — he knew the gravity of the crime.
After femme fatale Angelina Barini allegedly fed Zamperoni a lethal dose of the date-rape drug GBL at the Kamway Lodge Aug. 18, 2019, Lescano went on a shopping spree with the man’s AmEx card — before hitting up a casino where he tried to pull out cash with the stolen plastic.
“[He] spent some time at that casino all the while he knew the victim was laying on the floor in that hotel room where the victim was dead,” the prosecutor said.
The new detail emerged at a bail hearing for Lescano who has been jailed since his arrest last month on two felony counts of conspiracy to distribute GBL and distribution and possession of GBL.
Prosecutors say that Barini and Lescano conspired to lure Zamperoni, 33, to the Queens motel to drug and rob him. The blonde temptress faces additional charges for the overdose deaths of two other johns.
Lescano told Homeland Security Investigations agents that she often used “liquid G” — referring to GBL — to knock men unconscious and fleece them of their valuables.
Defense attorney Jeremy Schneider said that Lescano should be released on bail, arguing that he has a pacemaker and that his alleged crimes weren’t that serious.
The prosecutor countered that the only reason Lescano and Barini aren’t charged with causing Zamperoni’s overdose death was because the body wasn’t found immediately.
“Ms. Barini was in the room with the victim for days as his body decomposed, which would naturally impact the question of medical certainty,” he said.
Williams added that Lescano has every incentive to flee, as he is in the US on an expired visa and has a wife and children in the Philippines.
US Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo agreed and rejected his bid for bail.
Three days after Zamperoni’s fateful visit to the motel, investigators found Barini and the chef’s rotting remains inside the room. His bare foot was sticking out of a trash can near a suitcase and a saw, according to court papers.
Barini, who is being held without bail, faces six counts — including causing the overdose deaths of two johns and obstruction for trying to dispose of Zamperoni’s remains.
