Man pleads guilty to kidnap, torture that started at Walmart and ended at strip club
A Broward man pleaded guilty Thursday for his role in kidnapping a plastic surgeon from a Walmart parking lot earlier this year, torturing him with a blowtorch and leaving him tied in a car outside a strip club.
Justin Boccio, 33, of Deerfield Beach, could face life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He will be sentenced Dec. 5.
Boccio and co-defendant Serge Nkorina were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in May. Investigators said the pair was after money.
Nkorina, who was arrested in Spain, has not yet made a court appearance in South Florida. Boccio pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping.
Early in the morning of Jan. 15, police were called to the parking lot of Cheetah Gentleman’s Club in Hallandale Beach because a car horn was sounding continuously. When officers arrived, they found a person in the front seat of the car with his hands and feet bound. The victim also had burns and lacerations, according to court records.
The plastic surgeon, who investigators did not identify, told police he was taken at gunpoint from Walmart, forced into a van rented from Budget and blindfolded. He was then tied up and repeatedly shocked with a Taser, investigators said. His captors told him they’d kill him if he didn’t give them money, investigators said.
He was taken to a storage facility, where his hands were burned with a blowtorch and he was hit by the suspects, who were trying to get information that would lead them to the doctor’s money, according to the criminal complaint. He was then left tied up in the car in the Cheetah parking lot.
Using surveillance video from different locations, investigators said they were able to get the license plate of the van and traced the rental back to Boccio. From the rental agreement, they also got Boccio’s cellphone number, which also placed him in the area.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 6:12 PM.
