Asbury Park Man Tortured Victim For $150K Cash, 50 Pounds Of Pot: Feds

QUEENS, NY — A suspected gang member from Asbury Park is part of a trio of men accused of kidnapping and torturing a man in Queens in December, by pouring bleach on him and burning him with a blowtorch, federal prosecutors said.

The Asbury Park man is Lesly Valentin, 38. He and two other men — Aasim Boone, 41, and Jarrett Bruce, 40, both of Englewood — were charged this week in Brooklyn federal court with kidnapping and extortion.

The three men kidnapped the victim at gunpoint outside his Astoria apartment on Dec. 9, feds say. They drove him to New Jersey, where they subjected him to escalating forms of torture for nearly five hours. Among other things, they beat him with a gun, poured bleach on him, burned his back and legs with a blowtorch, and also sliced his ear with a knife, said police.

They tortured the man over nearly five hours. The kidnappers released him in Manhattan before threatening him with further harm unless he paid them $150,000 in cash and 50 pounds of marijuana, prosecutors said.

"Remember how spicy s--- gets!" one accused kidnapper texted the man.

Federal prosecutors argued the trio — who are reputed to have ties to a New Jersey street gang — should remain behind bars until trial.

"All three men have extensive criminal histories, and are believed to have participated in a series of residential burglaries committed by a violent street gang operating out of New Jersey," said U.S. Attorneys.

Valentin also previously pled guilty in New Jersey to aggravated assault related to a prior kidnapping.

This case was investigated by FBI agents. FBI agents were able to apprehend the three New Jersey men by tracking their cell phone numbers, which showed them driving into upper Manhattan, as well as over the George Washington Bridge.

Boone and Bruce were arrested Feb. 1. Valentin was already in custody on a separate charge.

The trio face a maximum sentence of life in prison if they're convicted on the charge of kidnapping conspiracy.

"A victim subjected to kidnapping, brutal beatings, inhumane torture, and cash demands – this is not a plot from a movie," said James Smith, assistant director-in-charge for the FBI's New York field office, in a statement.