Hamptons limo driver used Mercedes in drug ‘delivery service' for posh clients at yacht club, ‘Rodeo Drive of Long Island': prosecutors
Michael Khodorkovskiy, 44, copped to one drug dealing charge in a Riverhead, New York courtroom as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that is expected to net him 10 years behind bars at his May 29 sentencing.
Khodorkovskiy was busted in August, alongside Alexandr Dyatchin, on 47 drug-related charges for a year-long scheme to sell high-end coke at inflated prices around the Hamptons, at spots like the Montauk Yacht Club, Rosie's eatery, and most frequently on Newtown Lane in East Hampton — regarded as the Rodeo Drive of the vacation-home set.
4 Michael Khodorkovskiy pleaded guilty to a drug charge Monday for running a high-end cocaine delivery service out of his Mercedes Benz.
Newsday
Both men — who worked as private rideshare and Uber drivers — conducted the illicit transactions out of their Mercedes cars which were retro-fitted with 'traps.' or hidden compartments to hide the drugs, prosecutors claimed.
They not only dealt coke — which they sold for triple the street price — but also party drug MDMA and pills, prosecutors alleged.
They were caught after selling large quantities of cocaine to undercover cops — including four sales where the officers bought two ounces or more from the pair, prosecutors said. The men have been held on $2 million since their arrests.
Khodorkovskiy — a Ukraine-born US citizen — was cuffed on Aug. 2, alongside Dyatchin, 39, who allegedly came up with the ritzy cocaine delivery service scheme.
During the bust, law enforcement discovered over three pounds of the white powdery narcotic and pills stashed in drug traps inside his Benz S500, officials said at the time. They also found nearly $39,000 in cash, and 39 gold coins worth $100,000, prosecutors said.
4 Khodorkovskiy made deals with well-healed clients inside his Mercedes Benz S500 on various spots in the Hamptons.
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office
Dyatchin's East Hampton rental home was filled with 589 grams of coke divided into packages, 269 grams of MDMA, and close to $20,000 in cash. His Mercedes had another 50 envelopes of cocaine stashed in traps, officials said.
4 Khodorkovskiy hid drugs inside his luxury car in 'traps.'
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office
4 Khodorkovskiy is slated to receive 10 years behind bars at his sentencing next month.
Suffolk County District Attorney's Office
While a baggie of less than a gram of coke would go for $50 on the street, the duo was selling the same amount for $150 a pop, prosecutors claimed.
Outside court, Khodorkovskiy's lawyer, Matthew Myers, said his client worked hard his whole life and fell on hard times during the pandemic running his limo business. He racked up $100,000 in debt and lost all the other vehicles that he'd purchased for the company, finally turning to drug dealing, Myers said.
'Khodorkovskiy was asked many times to provide wealthy Manhattan partiers narcotics,' Myers said, noting his client rejected the request until turning to dealing out of desperation.
Dyatchin is due in court Wednesday. He's not a citizen and has outstayed his visa and could face deportation if convicted.
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