Bergen Teen Tortured In Drug Deal Gone Wrong: Officials

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Hackensack teenager was held captive and tortured in New York City for several days after a planned drug deal went horribly wrong, according to federal prosecutors.

The teen, 18, was tied up in a Queens basement for four days, from March 17 to 21, stabbed twice in the leg and burned with cigarettes, prosecutors said.

The teen was only released when his mom, working with feds, dropped a $20,000 ransom in a Brooklyn park and reclaimed her son, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in New Jersey federal court.

Prosecutors say the teen went willingly with his soon-to-be kidnappers to a Newark, Delaware hotel, but when a drug deal failed, the kidnappers changed their plans.

Instead, Cindy Aleman Fernandez, 27, Dennis Reyes Mora, 37; Alexander Cruz, 26, threw the teen into an SUV, drove him to New York City and held him captive in a Queens home, prosecutors contend.

The trio held a gasoline-soaked rag to his eyes, ran a knife across his neck, and threatened him with a gun, according to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.

Fernandez laughed while the teen was tortured, Sellinger said.

The trio was arrested on March 27, after the teen had been returned and recounted his tale of woe to law enforcement officials, the complaint states.

Investigators searched the home where the teen said he was held and found shell casings, a can of gasoline, duct tape and traces of blood on a green chair, according to the complaint.

Each of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, Sellinger said.

If convicted, the three Brooklynites could face life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Before the arrest, the kidnappers tried to "cover up their crimes," prosecutors said. They removed and cleaned the seats of the car, where the teen had been stabbed and bled.