In a major blow to organized crime, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Leonid ‘Lenny’ Gershman and Aleksey Tsvetkov of racketeering and other violent crimes, including illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, arson, and marijuana distribution. The charges stemmed from their membership in an Eastern European organized crime syndicate operating in the Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island neighborhoods.
The defendants, Gershman and Tsvetkov, were found guilty of racketeering, including predicate acts of illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, arson, and marijuana distribution. Gershman was also convicted of conspiring to traffic firearms, and Tsvetkov of wire fraud for an insurance scheme at Aces Auto Bodyshop, which he co-owned.
The investigation, led by the DEA Strike Force, revealed that the defendants, along with co-conspirators from states of the former Soviet Union, operated as a racketeering enterprise, committing a host of crimes to enrich themselves. Members of the criminal syndicate were linked to high-level members of Russian organized crime known as “thieves in law,” who authorized syndicate members to use violence to protect their criminal activities.
Beginning in 2016, the defendants partnered in an illegal high-stakes poker game on Coney Island Avenue, generating substantial illicit profits for the defendants’ criminal syndicate. In the spring of 2016, the defendants and other syndicate members agreed to eliminate a competing poker spot by having two co-conspirators commit arson, which endangered the lives of tenants and New York City firefighters.
Leonid ‘Lenny’ Gershman and Aleksey Tsvetkov face up to life in prison when sentenced by United States District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan. The defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Richard P. Donoghue, praised the DEA Strike Force for its tireless efforts in dismantling the defendants’ criminal syndicate. Donoghue expressed his gratitude to the DEA’s New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, New York, the New York City Police Department, and the New York State Police for their roles in the investigation.
The convictions are a decisive blow against this transnational organized crime syndicate, stated IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge James D. Robnett. IRS-CI is committed, with its OCDETF partners, to disrupt the flow of ill-gotten gains that is the life-blood for these criminals and unravel their complex networks.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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