Queens Sex Worker Pleads Not Guilty To Client's Fentanyl Overdose

QUEENS— A Queens sex worker pleaded not guilty Friday to giving a client the fentanyl that led to his fatal overdose, federal prosecutors said.

Angelina Barini stands accused of fentanyl distribution and possession for her role in the July 11 overdose death of an unidentified man in a Woodside motel, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Friday.

Law enforcement officers arrested Barini last month as part of a Homeland Security investigation into several fatal drug overdoses in New York City hotel rooms over the summer.

The sex worker's clients included Cipriani Dolci chef Andrea Zamperoni, 33, was found dead the night of in an Elmhurst hostel the night of Aug. 21, several days after he was reported missing.

Zamperoni died from a combination of alcohol, cocaine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, the medical examiner's office said Friday.

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or liquid ecstasy, is known as a date-rape drug, according to the DEA.

If convicted on the fentanyl charges, Barini faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.