Queens woman linked to multiple overdose deaths

A Queens woman who allegedly provided the drugs that killed a Manhattan chef has been charged with allegedly causing the overdose of a second man. She was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

By Victoria Merlino 

A Queens woman previously linked to the death of a Manhattan chef and two other men has now been charged for distributing drugs that resulted in a fatal overdose of another man. 

Angelina Barini, 41, an alleged sex worker, is now with allegedly causing the overdose deaths of two men. In court on Thursday, she pleaded not guilty to the new charges, just as she had pleaded not guilty last month when she was charged in connection with the first man’s death. 

“The defendant Angelina Barini now stands charged with dispensing deadly doses of narcotic drugs to two victims,” United States Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement. “Every life lost to the opioid crisis is of the utmost importance to this Office and our law enforcement partners, and we will work relentlessly to uncover the evidence proving who is responsible for each opioid death.” 

Barini appeared in federal court for the Eastern District of New York in August, where prosecutors said she cooperated with her pimp to drug three clients who later died, including the Barini.

A criminal complaint by the Department of Homeland Security released in August detailed how officers, searching for a missing person a court official later confirmed to be Zamperoni, went to the Kamway Lodge in Elmhurst and allegedly found Barini in a room with the dead body. 

Barini allegedly told officers that “she did not do it, her pimp made her do it and it was not her.” 

Barini later said that after the man paid her and they had sex, he was unresponsive and bleeding from the nose and mouth. She allegedly admitted that her pimp had given the dead man liquid ecstasy.

Barini, who's out on bail, is due back in court on Nov. 21. Her lawyer did not immediately respond Thursday to an email from the Associated Press seeking comment.

If convicted, Barini would face a minimum of 20 years in prison, and a maximum of life in prison. 

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.