Four New York men were sentenced today to prison terms for conspiring to kidnap and hold for ransom a Fort Lee, New Jersey, resident, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Fa Deng, 44, of Staten Island, New York, was sentenced to 144 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $200,000 fine; Chiahao Lee, 32, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 180 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Albert Ferrelli, 52, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 250 months in prison and five years of supervised release; and Gabriel Anthony, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 168 in prison and three years of supervised release. All four previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit interstate kidnapping.
According to documents filed in the cases, and statements made in court:
On April 5, 2022, the four conspirators drove to the victim’s home in Fort Lee. Anthony and Ferrelli entered the victim’s home wearing masks. They bound the victim’s hands, placed duct tape over his eyes and mouth, and forced him into a vehicle where Deng and Lee were waiting.
Law enforcement received information that kidnappers had sent the victim’s wife a photograph of the victim bound and duct-taped, demanding a ransom of approximately $680,000. When law enforcement responded to the victim’s home, they located what appeared to be duct tape with pieces of latex gloves stuck to it. After reviewing local surveillance footage, law enforcement identified a gray minivan used in the abduction. Other surveillance footage showed the minivan crossing the George Washington Bridge shortly after the kidnapping, and subsequently crossing into the Bronx and then into Queens.
The following day, New York Police Department personnel responded to Prince Street in Queens, where they encountered Ferrelli guarding the door to a building. When officers approached Ferrelli, they heard a man screaming for help inside the building. Officers entered the building and found the victim with his hands bound, and duct tape over his eyes and mouth.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy; the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Prosecutor Mark Musella; officers of the Fort Lee Police Department, under the direction of Chief Matthew J. Hintze; and the New York Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Edward A. Caban, with the investigation leading to the sentencings.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Silane of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.