Pasco drug leader gets 22 years in hot sauce torture kidnapping case

Yahoo

5 days ago

TAMPA — As drug cases go, this one was horrendous. It involved one dealer accusing another of stealing his business, a kidnapping plot and torture by hot sauce.
It ended Wednesday when a federal judge sentenced Mario Espino, a young man a prosecutor called 'a victim of his own ambition,' who aspired to be the 'No. 1 drug dealer in Pasco County,' to 22 years in prison.
Yet, in a 90-minute sentencing hearing, Espino was at once condemned for his crimes and praised for his candor in helping prosecutors take down other dealers who dominated the flow of fentanyl and methamphetamine in areas north of Tampa. The government sought close to 30 years in prison. He could have gotten life.
His sentence balanced what the government said was substantial assistance Espino gave to investigators, testimony of a dismal childhood and his leadership of a ruthless criminal enterprise.
'This is not someone who's just selling drugs on the corner,' Assistant U.S. Attorney David Sullivan said in court. 'This is a high-level trafficker who we know, without a doubt, is extremely violent.'
Yet, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven observed, the government made deals with him.
The prosecutor responded with an adage: 'You can't cast a play in hell with angels.'
Said the judge: 'All plays that can be cast don't have to be cast.'
The prosecutor agreed. No more deals would be made in this case.
Espino's downfall began one morning almost two years ago. Pasco sheriff's deputies and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents had been watching a little house with a front yard of gravel and concrete on a straight street called Eisenhower Drive in Holiday.
The cops descended on a Dodge Durango SUV that pulled up. Espino and two other men got out and ran, but didn't get far. In the SUV's back seat was a man, his wrists and ankles bound with zip ties, his head covered with a blue pillowcase.
His name was Gadiel Leger. He is described in court records as a fellow drug trafficker. Bad blood brewed when Espino learned Leger was dealing with some of his clients.
Cops had spoken to Leger the day before — Oct. 21, 2023 — after he stepped off a plane at Tampa International Airport. They'd told him that Espino was planning to kidnap and kill him. They'd learned as much from a confidential informer, who said Espino planned to hold Leger for ransom. Leger apparently ignored their warnings.
Espino recruited two other men — Joey Young and Jacob Guest — to help in the kidnapping plot, prosecutors said. Court documents describe Espino as luring Leger to Tampa with the promise of paying a debt he owed.
The three men were waiting at Espino's home when Leger showed up that night. After he walked inside, Young and Guest pulled guns as Espino grabbed Leger's neck from behind and wrestled him to the floor. The three men used zip ties to bind Leger's wrists and ankles. They hit him with fists and guns in his face, chest and body, according to court records. The beating lasted hours.
Espino phoned someone, not named but identified in court records as a Leger's 'source of supply.' He demanded 22 pounds of fentanyl in exchange for his release. He went through Leger's phone, photographing his contact lists in search for his other drug suppliers, court records state.
The men dragged Leger into the home's garage and put him in the back of a Dodge Charger. They shrouded his head with a T-shirt and covered his eyes with a sweat band, court records state. They drove somewhere, then returned to the home. All the while, the beating continued.
Amid the melee, the men poured hot sauce into Leger's eyes, records state. Espino, according a police report, removed Leger's pants and poured the hot sauce into his rear end.
While Leger was being tortured, another man, Jacob Arjona, arrived in a minivan. He walked inside carrying a black suitcase that held 50 pounds of methamphetamine, court records state. He collected a cash payment of $113,100. While he was there, he saw Leger, tied up and bleeding, and joined in the beating, records state.
After he drove away, cops stopped Arjona and found the cash.
Back at the house, the men put Leger in the SUV and drove him somewhere. When they returned, the cops were there.
Leger was hospitalized with numerous injuries, including a brain bleed. In Espino's house, agents seized large quantities of meth and fentanyl and a backpack that held more than $13,000.
Espino, 26, became the first defendant in the case to plead guilty and the first to offer information to investigators. Young, Guest and Arjona also eventually pleaded guilty to various crimes related to the kidnapping. Guest and Young received 20 and 25 years in prison respectively.
Espino helped agents identify several other drug dealers, the prosecutor said. He became a key witness against two in particular.
Marcus and Pierre Fowler were described in court as the top dealers in Pasco County. Marcus pleaded guilty to drug charges and got 24 years in prison. Pierre was convicted at trial, in which Espino testified, and awaits sentencing.
'They were the people Mr. Espino went to for most of his drug supply,' Sullivan said. 'They are who Mario Espino was trying to be.'
Beyond his drug crimes, Espino was alleged to be responsible for at least four shootings in Pasco County. After his arrest, the prosecutor said, violent crime in Pasco County saw a marked decline.
In court Wednesday, Espino stood with shoulders slumped, wearing orange. A large tattoo of a U.S. 19 road sign marked the center of his neck.
He insisted that he has changed. He told the judge he was broken mentally and spiritually when he committed the crimes. He asked for a chance at an education, a legitimate career and fatherhood.
Leger, 36, who faces federal drug charges unrelated to Espino's case, was not in court.
The judge asked: Why did he torture the man?
Espino explained that he blamed Leger for the loss of some of his drug supply. He was also angered when he learned Leger was dealing with some of his biggest clients behind his back.
'I didn't plan on killing him,' Espino said. 'I just planned on putting fear in him. But I did go overboard.'
His older brother Dionicio Espino, a Marine veteran and investment banker, read a lengthy statement detailing their troubled upbringing.
He described their father as a violent criminal who was murdered in Mexico. Their mother, he said, suffered from mental illness and died from the long-term effects of substance abuse. He spoke of a home life that lacked stability, where the children would come home from school to find their mother passed out near burnt spoons and empty liquor bottles.
The younger Espino was in and out of group homes. He dropped out of school. His lack of education kept him from following his brother into the military. With few other prospects, he turned to drug dealing.
'So many people have failed Mario,' his brother said.
Before Espino was led away by U.S. Marshals, the judge closed the courtroom so he could visit alone with his baby daughter. It was the first time he'd seen her in person.