Angelina Barini (pictured), 41, who is linked to the drug overdose of a famed New York chef has been charged in connection to a second man’s death whose body was found in August
A prostitute who is linked to the drug overdose of a famed New York City chef has been charged in connection to a second man’s death whose body was found over the summer.
Angelina Barini, 41, of Queens, was already being investigated in at least three other deaths between July 4 to August 21.
Last month, Barini entered a not guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn after prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging her in the death of a man it didn’t name. News reports identified him as Jean-Alessander Silvero.
She has also been linked to the fatal overdose of Cipriani chef Andrea Zamperoni, 33, whose body was found wrapped in a blanket at a hostel on August 21. She has not been charged in his death.
On Thursday, the US Attorney’s Office said in a press statement that Barini was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn in the fatal overdose of a second Queens man whose body was found on August 5.
Authorities did not release the man’s name nor did they release the location where his body was found.
Barini has been charged with distributing and possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine. She will be detained pending trial.
‘The defendant Angelina Barini now stands charged with dispensing deadly doses of narcotic drugs to two victims,’ US Attorney Richard Donoghue said in the statement.
Last month, Barini entered a not guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn after prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging her in the death of a man it didn’t name. News reports identified him as Jean-Alessander Silvero (pictured)
Silvero’s body was found on July 11 in a Crown Motor Inn (pictured) room in Queens where security video from earlier that day captured a woman who appeared to be Barini and the man entering the location together
In September, authorities released details about Silvero’s death. His body was found on July 11 in a Crown Motor Inn room in Queens where security video from earlier that day captured a woman who appeared to be Barini and the man entering the location together.
After Baraini was arrested, authorities say, she claimed she didn’t know what narcotic she had brought along with her but told him it was cocaine before he snorted two or three lines.
The medical examiner ended up finding the cause of death was an overdose of fentanyl.
Defense attorney Mildred Whalen and prosecutors told a magistrate judge that they are negotiating a plea.
A criminal complaint that brought initial drug charges against Barini in August links her to two other overdose deaths.
One of those victims was Zamperoni, an Italian chef for a restaurant in Grand Central Terminal that’s part of the renowned Cipriani chain.
The complaint alleges Barini told investigators that she was a prostitute and that she had given Zamperoni liquid ecstasy after they went to another Queens motel together in August.
It says she described not being able to wake the victim after finding him bleeding from the nose and mouth.
Barini (left) has also been linked to the fatal overdose of Cipriani chef Andrea Zamperoni (right), 33, whose body was found wrapped in a blanket at a hostel on August 21
The chef had been missing for four days before his body was found at the Kamway Lodge in Elmhurst (pictured), which is located in an area known for drugs and prostitution, after a woman called 911 to say he was unconscious
Surveillance video from outside the hotel showed police taking a woman into custody after the chef’s body was found
When questioned by police, Barini allegedly told investigators that she was a prostitute and that Zamperoni had paid her for sex
Barini told investigators that her pimp, labeled a co-conspirator in the complaint, wouldn’t let her call the police and talked about trying to dispose of the body, the court papers say.
She said a second co-conspirator had supplied the drugs, they add.
The medical examiner said Zamperoni died from a combination of alcohol, cocaine and GHB, a sedative used to treat narcolepsy but also often used as a recreational drug.
Barini is accused of plying Zamperoni and the other victims with a fentanyl-laced drug cocktail and then robbing them after they lost consciousness.
She was arrested on drug charges after the discovery of Zamperoni’s body inside the Kamway Lodge & Tavern in Elmhurst, Queens, on August 21.
In the case of Zamperoni, he had been missing for four days before his body was found at the Kamway Lodge, which is located in an area known for drugs and prostitution, after a woman called 911 to say he was unconscious.
Police found his body wrapped in a blanket on the floor after Barini opened the door to the hotel room, according to the criminal complaint.
They noted the hotel room had a ‘strong odor consistent with the smell of a dead body and burning incense’.
Zamperoni had been reported missing by his colleagues when he failed to show for work at the upscale restaurant. The chef, who is originally from Italy, had also missed his weekly call with his mother
Surveillance footage showed the sex worker going into the hotel room with Zamperoni at 4.58am on August 18, according to the complaint.
Authorities say Barini went in and out of the room multiple times over the next few days before the chef’s body was found.
Zamperoni never re-emerged from the room.
He had been reported missing by his colleagues when he failed to show for work at the upscale restaurant.
The chef, who was originally from Italy, had also missed his weekly call with his mother.
The criminal complaint says Barini is also linked to the death of another man found dead at the Airway Inn at LaGuardia.
She is also accused of working with drug dealers to sometimes rob customers after they are drugged and incapacitated.
Authorities say surveillance video showed her with the two other men at the respective hotels.
If convicted of causing the death of the second overdose victim, Barini faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of life imprisonment.
The investigation is ongoing.