A multi-agency police task force made two nearly simultaneous arrests around noon on Friday, resulting in multiple felony charges.
The first involved a Brooklyn man, Michael Khodorkovskiy, 44, who police said had been selling cocaine since at least September at 29 Newtown Lane in East Hampton, the address of the Cittanuova restaurant. He was arrested on Friday and arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Saturday.
According to reports provided by the court, Mr. Khodorkovskiy allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover town police officer on nine occasions between Sept. 26, 2023, and May 7. Each of the nine drug counts are charged as class-A felonies, which means that Mr. Khodorkovskiy allegedly sold over half an ounce of cocaine in each instance.
While all the transactions were said to have taken place at 29 Newtown Lane, Cittanuova said in a statement on Tuesday that “these criminal allegations are to a member of the general public that” has “no connection to the restaurant or its staff whatsoever.” Court records do not indicate where Mr. Khodorkovskiy was arrested.
At a crime lab in Suffolk County, each sample of the substance bought by the undercover officer reportedly tested positive for cocaine, according to court documents.
Also charged in connection with the bust was Alexandr Dyatchin, 38, who was arrested at a house on Driftwood Lane in Springs on Friday and was also arraigned in town justice court on Saturday on multiple charges, including the alleged sale and possession of MDMA, or ecstasy, and cocaine.
Mr. Dyatchin had reportedly sold cocaine and a hallucinogenic substance to the same undercover town officer at several locations in East Hampton and Montauk over the course of the past year: at 67 Newtown Lane in East Hampton, the site of the Stop and Shop grocery store; 32 Star Island Road in Montauk; 148 South Emerson Avenue in Montauk, 195 Main Street in Amagansett, and 466 West Lake Drive in Montauk. Some charges stem from the task force’s raid of his Springs address on Friday.
At the house, police reportedly discovered multiple plastic bags containing a white substance, which weighed more than eight ounces, resulting in one of the class-A felony charges. Using a field test, police reportedly identified the powder as cocaine.
After a search, police said they discovered more bags in the house containing the white powder “in an amount greater than that considered as normal for personal use,” meaning that police believe the substance was being trafficked.
In Mr. Dyatchin’s black Mercedes, which is registered in Florida, police reportedly found a pink crystal substance, weighing more than 25 grams. A separate package, seemingly containing the same crystals, reportedly weighed more than a gram. A field test determined both were Ecstasy, according to court documents.
Of the 20 drugs counts leveled at Mr. Dyatchin, five are class-A felonies, the most serious level in New York State, 13 are class-B, and there is one class-C and one class-D felony charge.
Fifteen of the drug counts are connected to alleged or intended sales, while five are charged as possession. The substances collected last summer reportedly tested positive for cocaine and Ecstasy at the Suffolk County crime laboratory.
Both Mr. Dyatchin and Mr. Khodorovskiy were arraigned in East Hampton Justice Court by Justice Steven Tekulsky. As of Wednesday they were being held at the Yaphank Correctional Facility and were scheduled to return for virtual appearances before Justice Tekulsky Thursday.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, which oversaw the operation, had not yet provided additional details. “We are not releasing information on the matter at the moment, however, we expect to do so in the near future,” said Tania Lopez, the D.A.’s director of communications.
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Note: This article has been updated since it originally appeared online.