The leader of a botched ransom plot will spend at least two decades behind bars for kidnapping, beating, and trying to kill a small-time marijuana dealer two years ago, and two of his co-defendants will serve terms that are shorter but still significant, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced JOSEPH CALDWELL (D.O.B. 12/5/82) of Mattapan to a term of 20 to 25 years in state prison on the lead charge of kidnapping with intent to extort, plus concurrent sentences of 18 to 20 years and 14 to 15 years for attempted murder and aggravated assault and battery. Caldwell was convicted of those offenses on April 15.

Gaziano said he took note of the “physical and psychological harm” done to the victim in deciding on the sentence, and further noted that Caldwell’s prior state prison sentences on unrelated offenses “didn’t deter him from his conduct. In fact, he was on probation at the time of the offense.”

Gaziano sentenced TYON FEASTER (D.O.B. 7/31/84) of Cambridge to a term of 10 to 12 years for kidnapping and a concurrent 5- to 10-year sentence for aggravated assault and battery. Feaster’s prison term will be followed by 10 years of probation on his attempted murder conviction, Gaziano ordered.

Gaziano sentenced JILLIAN JACQUES (D.O.B. 3/31/85) of Allston to a term of 6 to 10 years for her role in the kidnapping plot, which included luring the victim up to her apartment. Jacques was acquitted of an attempted murder charge but convicted of aggravated assault and battery; Gaziano sentenced her to 10 years of probation for that offense.

DOMONIC CAMPBELL (D.O.B. 4/15/88) of Cambridge will be sentenced on May 20 at 2:00 p.m. As Caldwell and Feaster were, Campbell was convicted of kidnapping with intent to extort, aggravated assault and battery, and attempted murder. His sentencing was delayed at his attorney’s request.

Urging harsh terms for each of the defendants, Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Bucci told the court that the victim – who was tied to a chair, blindfolded, beaten, threatened, and left to die in a burning apartment – is still haunted by the 12-hour ordeal, suffering permanent physical injuries and lasting psychological damage.

“The Commonwealth can’t stress enough the seriousness of such a sustained and brutal attack,” Bucci said. “It’s difficult to imagine an attack more severe than this … I would ask Your Honor to consider the brutality and sustained nature of the attack.”

During the two-week trial, senior Suffolk prosecutors elicited testimony to prove that Jacques arranged to buy a small amount of marijuana from the 24-year-old victim on June 1, 2008, but insisted that the transaction take place in her Glenville Avenue apartment instead of the lobby of her building as she had in the past.

Evidence showed that Caldwell and Campbell were lying in wait for the victim. They took his cell phone and tied him to a chair. They demanded that he procure large quantities of marijuana for them – a feat the victim said he could not accomplish.

In the hours that followed, the victim was repeatedly beaten and threatened by his assailants, who began to demand cash when it became clear the victim had no access to more drugs. In phone calls to the victim’s brother, they promised to shoot the victim in the head if they were not given $5,000.

The victim’s brother raised a little over $4,000 and, after notifying Boston Police, provided it to two women at Dudley Station who had been sent by the kidnappers. Those women were apprehended; further investigation showed that they were unaware of their true roles in the ransom scheme.

Jacques left the apartment that afternoon to go to work. At about 11:00 that evening, members of the Boston Fire Department responded to an alarm at her building. On gaining access to her apartment, they found that a pillow and several rolls of toilet paper had been set on fire before sprinklers doused most of the flames.

Boston firefighters also found the victim tied to a chair. He had been severely beaten and was bleeding from his eyes. Injuries to the man’s face were so severe that he was not immediately able to view photo arrays because his eyes were swollen shut.

Bucci, the chief of Conley’s Narcotics Unit, tried the case with Assistant District Attorney Joseph Ditkoff, deputy chief legal counsel for the Suffolk DA’s office. Caldwell, Campbell, Feaster, and Jacques were represented by attorneys Tonomey Coleman, Robert Griffin, Pamela Harris Daley, and Joseph Hennessey, respectively.