Queens DA: Valley Stream man pleads guilty to role in 'sadistic crime spree'

A Valley Stream man faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to his role in "a sadistic crime spree," in which he and a co-defendant forced a woman into prostitution and beat and robbed two men after luring them with promises of sex for money, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

Gil Iphael, 25, of Valley Stream, entered a guilty plea to two counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of second-degree promoting prostitution, kidnapping, promoting prostitution and robbery, for three separate instances of violence in 2022, Katz’s office announced in a news release.

His co-defendant, Destiny Lebron, of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, who was 19 at the time of the crimes, pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced to 13 years in prison and 5 years post-release supervision, the release said.

Garnett Sullivan, Iphael's defense attorney, according to court documents, could not immediately be reached for comment late Thursday.

On July 30, 2022, the pair picked up a woman Lebron "befriended on Instagram" and took her to a hotel in Jamaica, Queens, where she was told she must either help lure and rob men or engage in prostitution, according to the district attorney’s office.

After she refused, Iphael and Lebron "slapped, punched and threatened her," made online prostitution ads with photos of her and forced the victim to engage in "prostitution activity" with several people who responded to the ads, the release said. Iphael and Lebron kept the money for themselves. The victim escaped the following day.

On Aug. 6, 2022, a man in his 50s, met Lebron in a hotel room after responding to an ad for prostitution depicting her, according to the release. After he paid Lebron and started to take his clothes off, she threw bleach in his face. Lebron then let Iphael into the room. Iphael "covered the victim’s head with a blanket and began punching him and demanding money," the release said.

The victim was restrained and assaulted for several hours and Iphael and Lebron took turns making ATM withdrawals with his bank card before ultimately stealing his wallet, phone and car, according to the release. At one point, when the man refused "to unlock his phone, Lebron burned him with a curling iron until he complied." 

Eight days later, a man in his 20s responded to an ad for prostitution depicting Lebron, the release said. He paid Lebron and began to undress before she and Iphael beat and threatened to maim him. The victim was restrained and assaulted, according to the release, often with a pillow held over his face. Iphael and Lebron then withdrew the victim’s money from a nearby ATM and stole his wallet and other personal belongings.

After luring, "brutally" assaulting and robbing both men, Iphael "threatened to kill the family members of victims if they reported the crimes," Katz said in a statement.

Ispael is scheduled to be sentenced March 4.