A Florida man has confessed to kidnapping a plastic surgeon whom he tortured with a blowtorch in an attempt to extort him, officials said.
Justin Boccio, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday in the scheme to abduct the unidentified doctor from a Walmart parking lot in Broward County, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. He faced charges for kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.
Boccio’s attorney said his client was convinced by his co-defendant, Serge Nkorina, to participate in the extortion plot.
It’s unclear why the doctor was targeted, but Nkorina’s wife was reportedly the man’s client.
Boccio allegedly rented a van to scope out the doctor’s office for hours with Nkorina in the days before the kidnapping.
Then on Jan. 15, the doctor was confronted by an armed man outside his car in a Walmart parking lot, officials said.
The physician was then allegedly shoved into a van, blindfolded and tortured for hours.
During the abduction, Nikorina burned the man’s hands with a blowtorch and threatened to kill him, authorities said.
The doctor told his captors to go to his home, where they could find $50,000 — but surveillance video shows an armed man getting spooked by the lights on in the house when approaching the door, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Authorities said the doctor was forced to drink alcohol until he became unconscious, then was dropped off back at his car.
Boccio was arrested back in April in connection with the incident. He plans to testify against Nkorina, who is being extradited from Spain, according to the newspaper.