Leo Grillo, a former actor and animal sanctuary founder, has been arrested on attempted kidnapping charges in connection to a former employee who won a $6.7 million wrongful-termination lawsuit against him.
The United States Attorney’s Office Central District of California announced that Grillo, 77, was arrested on Tuesday, March 3. He was scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 5.
Grillo is the founder and leader of Acton-based animal welfare organization Dedication and Everlasting Love to Animals (DELTA) Rescue. Additionally, Grillo previously worked as a film actor and producer.
The victim won a judgment of $6,680,950 in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2024 after a jury found DELTA Rescue liable for wrongful termination, as well as other causes of legal action. DELTA Rescue is currently in the process of appealing that judgment.
Grillo met with an individual in Burbank in December 2025 to discuss the wrongful-termination litigation. Prosecutors also said the duo discussed — in coded language — a documentary that was targeting his liability insurance company.
During the meeting, Grillo allegedly asked the unnamed individual to use his contacts in Mexico to learn more about the victim who had successfully sued him.
He continued speaking with the individual in January and used code to discuss a “documentary” in which the woman who beat him in trial would be kidnapped along with a family member and held hostage in Mexico. Grillo added that he believed she would be forced to cooperate with him and would settle the litigation while in captivity.
Additionally, Grillo said he was willing to pay $100,000 to make the hostage plan happen. He also allegedly said he wanted her and her child to be flown out of an airfield in Lancaster.
Grillo did not realize that the unnamed person he was coordinating the plan with was cooperating with law enforcement, and their conversations ultimately led to his arrest.
The former actor mailed the person a check from “Animals Are People Too” for $20,000 in February. He confirmed that he wanted to get the victim on an airplane heading to Mexico, where she and her husband would be held hostage. The memo on the check read, “Production,” which was in line with the other terminology he used while discussing the kidnapping plot.
The individual met with Grillo in Burbank again on Tuesday, March 3, and told him, “They’ve got ‘em.” The person then showed Grillo a fake photograph on their cellphone, which seemingly showed the victim and a man tied up with zip ties. The victim’s mouth was also covered with duct tape in the photo.
However, the individual then told Grillo that the plot didn’t go according to plan and the victim and her husband had not yet left Lancaster. The person added that the couple would need to go somewhere other than Mexico.
Grillo reportedly told the individual that he worried their sons could contact law enforcement, and he eventually wrote a check for $10,000 so that the individual would further help in the kidnapping plot.
If Grillo is found guilty of the kidnapping charge, he could be sentenced to serve up to 20 years in federal prison.
It is not currently clear if Grillo has entered a plea or retained legal representation.
In 2010, Grillo starred in the film Magic alongside Yellowjackets star Samantha Hanratty, and in 2006, he was in the Katherine Heigl flick Zyzzyx Rd. He also executive produced both projects, according to IMDb. His first acting gig came in 1972 in an episode of Banacek.
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