A washed-up actor turned animal rights activist tried to pay henchmen to kidnap an immigrant ex-employee and drag her to Mexico after she won a $6.7 million lawsuit against him that bankrupted his charity, shocking new charges reveal.
Leo Grillo, 77, who appeared in the 2006 flop “Zyzzyx Rd” alongside Katherine Heigl and Tom Sizemore, is charged with federal attempted kidnapping charges for allegedly trying to pay up to $100,000 to a pal to snatch Adriana Duarte Valentines and take her out of the country.
“While in confinement, the woman would be forced to cooperate with GRILLO regarding her lawsuit. GRILLO said he would be willing to pay $100,000 to make that happen,” the complaint reads.
The FBI then had the would-be kidnapper go along with the plan, which Grillo kept orchestrating even after he was shown a staged photo of Valentines and her husband bound and gagged.
In 1979, Grillo founded animal sanctuary Dedication and Everlasting Love to Animals Rescue (DELTA) near Los Angeles — which he said was the largest no-kill animal shelter in the US.
Valentines, a Mexican immigrant, had sued DELTA for discrimination in 2024 after Grillo fired her because of her pregnancy — a court battle that forced DELTA to file for bankruptcy last year.
In December, Grillo allegedly reached out to a colleague who had business dealings in Mexico and offered the job in code, saying he wanted to produce a “documentary” about the unfair lawsuit.
When authorities added snags and delays to the phony plan, Grillo allegedly became more desperate and dropped all pretense about his intentions.
He kept sending orders and money even after seeing the fake kidnapping photo; his main concern was apparently getting the couple out of the country before Valentines’ grown sons got suspicious and called the cops, prosecutors claim.
Grillo’s career peaked with the 2006 movie “Zyzzyx Rd” — which he produced and starred in. The film — which has a 28% popcorn rating on Rotten Tomatoes, includes a young Heigl playing a “Lolita” character, according to IMDB.
