Prostitute arrested on drug charges in connection with NYC death of Cipriani Dolci chef: Police

A prostitute has been charged with drug possession in connection with three deaths, including the death of Andrea Zamperoni, who was the head chef of a high-end New York City restaurant, police say.

Zamperoni, 33, a chef at Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central Terminal, was found dead on Wednesday at a hotel in Elmhurst, Queens, according to police.

The chef hadn't been seen for four days and was reported missing by his co-workers.

On Wednesday, when police entered the Queens hotel, they said they found Angelina Barini, who they identified as a prostitute, as well as a dead body in a garbage can with bed linens stuffed inside, according to the complaint.

Barini told police that Zamperoni paid her for sex, but then didn't wake up and was bleeding from the nose and mouth, the complaint said. Barini told investigators that her pimp had given him liquid ecstasy, the complaint said.

She said her pimp didn't let her call police, said the complaint.

Barini also said men associated with her pimp "came to the room to discuss whether to cut up the body," according to the complaint.

There was no external trauma to Zamperoni's body, and a toxicology report is pending, officials said.

Barini was arrested for drug possession in connection with two other men found dead in hotel rooms in Queens this summer, according to the complaint.

The other two hotel deaths, which were discovered on July 4 and July 11, were determined to be overdoses, the complaint said.

Barini is accused of giving drugs to clients and sometimes taking their property when they were incapacitated, the complaint said.

Barini was charged with conspiring to distribute and possession with intent to distribute one or more substances containing fentanyl.