Peekskill Kidnap, Extortion Case Leads To 6-Year Federal Prison Term For California Man

PEEKSKILL, NY — A California man was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for his role in the abduction and extortion of a man outside a Hudson Valley grocery store.

The strange events began outside the business on Park Street in Peekskill, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Lewis Li, 36, of Huntington Beach, was sentenced in federal court. In addition to the prison term, Li was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $910,000.

United States Attorney Jay Clayton announced the sentence in a June 25 release.

"Today's sentence reflects the seriousness of this crime and the fear and trauma that Li inflicted on the victim," Clayton said. "Abducting a man in broad daylight, beating him up, and threatening him and his family is a grave offense that ravages the sense of safety that every community deserves. Our Office remains committed to protecting the public and ensuring that those who endanger our communities face justice."

Li and his co-conspirators planned for at least five days before the Jan. 28, 2025, abduction. They bought and placed a GPS tracker on the underside of the victim's car, surveilled the victim’s home, and went through the victim's trash.

At about 11:30 a.m. that day, Li and three co-conspirators followed and abducted the victim outside the Peekskill grocery store. The victim was forced into the backseat of a vehicle driven by a co-conspirator and restrained for about one hour and 45 minutes before being dropped off on a street in Elmsford.

During that time, Li and his co-conspirators beat the victim, used a stun gun on him, and threatened him to return about $930,000 in cash that Li believed the victim had stolen. The victim was also threatened that the money belonged to people involved in organized crime, that an additional $100,000 was owed, and that the victim and the victim's family were in danger unless that amount was paid.

The victim was forced to record a video admitting the money had been taken. Prosecutors said the victim then arranged for the disputed cash to be picked up by two co-conspirators at a location in Peekskill. Li was arrested about a week later, before any further payments were made. In the apartment where he was arrested, officers found a stun gun and Li's phone, which the release said had been hidden in an oven.

The FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force investigated the case. The prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office White Plains Division.