According to federal authorities, three suspected drug traffickers in Florida are on their way to prison after kidnapping a rival trafficker and torturing him with hot sauce for about 20 hours.
Mario Espino, aged 25, masterminded the kidnapping and 18-hour torture of Gadiel Leger, an accused former partner in crime. According to the Miami Herald, the incident took place in Tampa in 2013.
According to court documents, Espino was upset because he had been “cut out of Gadiel Leger’s drug business” and “plotted to kidnap [him] and take over his drug business.”
According to authorities, Espino enticed Leger to Tampa with the pretense that he would repay an old drug debt. Once Leger arrived in Tampa, Espino’s co-defendants, Jacob James Guest, 24, and Joey Lawrence Eugene Young, 25, kidnapped him and held him for ransom.
The men contacted Leger’s suspected “cartel drug sources” and demanded “10 kilograms of fentanyl” in exchange for his release, according to authorities.
“While Leger was held captive, Espino and Young tortured Leger by pouring hot sauce in Leger’s eyes and anus,” Assistant US Attorney David P. Sullivan stated in Espino’s sentencing memorandum.
According to Sullivan, Guest did not personally participate in the torture, but was present when it occurred.
“While Guest did physically strike Gadiel Leger while he was held captive, Guest did not pour hot sauce on Leger like Espino and Young did,” according to court records.
Leger was eventually rescued on October 11, 2023, when US Drug Enforcement Administration investigators and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office discovered him in the back seat of a car that the defendants had abandoned when police arrived.
Law police officials discovered Leger with a pillowcase over his head and his wrists tied.
Espino was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in jail. According to prosecutors, Guest was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Young received a 25-year sentence.
Guest’s lawyer told McClatchy News that he feels “deeply remorseful for his actions.”
“He is fully committed to utilizing his time in custody to learn, grow, and change, with the goal of reentering society as a responsible and productive person,” the lawyer, Summer Rae Goldman, said.
Prosecutors also showed that, despite his involvement in the kidnapping and torture, Espino had previously supported the government in pursuing cases against other accused drug dealers in Central Florida, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Before Young’s sentencing, Sullivan provided an outline of his lengthy criminal past, stating that “the public needs to be protected from Joey Young.”
All three individuals pleaded guilty in the case, as did a fourth defendant, Jacob Paul Arjona, who has not yet been sentenced.
According to court records, Arjona pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a prohibited substance as well as possession with intent to distribute controlled narcotics.
His court-appointed attorney, Patrick Leduc, stated that Arjona was not involved in the kidnapping or torture.
“Mr. Arjona was not involved with the kidnapping of this other person,” he informed me.