It’s the flashiest street in the Hamptons – the Rodeo Drive of the East End – where, if you have money to burn, you can light an inferno at Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton or Prada.
And, at least until recently, Newtown Lane in East Hampton Village was also the place where you could buy couture cocaine from a Mercedes-driving drug pusher, who would pick you up at a high-end Italian restaurant and take you to a more secluded spot to make the deal.
And this was no street drug cut with fentanyl or bath salts. This was the real deal – ‘a much purer, high-end product,’ one source familiar with the scheme told DailyMail.com.
But now the whole $1 million drug business has come crashing down following the arrests of the alleged kingpins who kept the Hamptons hooked.
Michael Khodorkovskiy 44, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, a private ride-share driver, and Russian-born Alexandr Dyatchin, 38, an Uber driver, who was renting a summer home in the millionaires’ playground, have been charged with more than 80 felony counts.
Newtown Lane is at the very center of life in East Hampton, when wealthy New Yorkers flock to the East End of Long Island to escape the summer heat in the city
Michael Khodorkovskiy is accused of catering to clients in East Hampton where he would meet them at an Itralian restaurant and take them to a more secluded spot to do the deal
Alexander Dyatchin moved from Florida to a summer rental in the Hamptons. When police raided that house, they reported finding $19,000 in cash, and over a half kilogram of cocaine, already packaged in hundreds of packets and ready to go.
The alleged drug dealers are said to have operated on the exclusive Newtown Lane in East Hampton
Police say the two men ran a cocaine delivery service that served high-end locations in the Hamptons from Newtown Lane out to the prestigious Montauk Yacht Club, and everywhere in between.
And what Khodorkovskiy and Dyatchin didn’t know was that many of the deals they struck weren’t with high rollers wanting to get higher, but with undercover agents.
The arrests have sent shock waves through the summer haven – nowhere more than at Cittanuova, a classy Italian restaurant across the street from Chanel and next door to Zimmermann – a store recommended by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, where a regular dress will set you back more than $2,000.
It was at Cittanuova that, unknown to the restaurant’s owners, Khodorkovskiy met his clients. ‘He has no connection to the restaurant or its staff whatsoever,’ Cittanuova said in a statement.
Khodorkovskiy, a US citizen, was picked up around noon on August 2 near his home in Brooklyn. He had been previously convicted of choking someone in New York City, and is currently on probation.
Dyatchin was busted at about the same time when East Hampton Town Police, along with the East End Drug Task Force, raided his seasonal home in Springs, a somewhat less salubrious part of East Hampton.
The two are being held in lieu of $2 million bail each, or a $20 million bond to be secured with a 10 percent deposit.
However, according to prosecuting attorney Rob Archer, both men are facing even more charges, with the potential of either or both being remanded without the possibility of bail.
The two men have netted more than $1 million since spring 2003 from their drug business, prosecutors say.
The arrests have sent shock waves through the resorts – nowhere more than at Cittanuova, a classy Italian restaurant in the elite East Hamptons neighborhood, where unknown to its owners Khodorkovskiy met his clients
At Zimmermann, right next door to Cittanuova, a regular dress will often set you back more than $2,000
Police say several of the drug transactions took place at the exclusive Montauk Yacht Club
The yacht club sits on 16 acres on Star Island, near the very tip of Long Island and is the biggest marina in the Hamptons
Montauk Yacht Club is said to have been a key dealing ground for Dyatchin
According to Archer, an assistant district attorney in the narcotics division, the two men ‘worked in concert’, with Khodorkovskiy catering to clients on Newtown Lane, while Dyatchin serviced points east, including Amagansett and Montauk, with several sales occurring at the exclusive Montauk Yacht Club.
Among the places where Dyatchin sealed his deals are a Stop and Shop supermarket in East Hampton, Beach Bounce restaurant in Montauk and Rosie’s a hip eatery in Amagansett.
None of the businesses whose addresses are named in the criminal complaints have been implicated in any wrongdoing.
Both men pick up their clients, went for a short drive, and complete the drug sale, prosecutors say
According to Archer, when police executed a search warrant of Khodorkovskiy’s Brooklyn home they found over a kilogram of cocaine, and a hoard of gold coins valued at over $100,000.
Khodorkovskiy, Archer said, has a bank account with over $130,000 in it.
Khodorkovskiy appeared in court for arraignment in Riverhead, New York on August 15
Bounce Beach restaurant in Montauk is among the places where Dyatchin allegedly sealed his deals
Cops say Dyatchin met his clients in a number of different East End restaurants, including Rosie’s a hip eatery in Amagansett
Khodorkovskiy is currently facing 47 felony charges, with the most serious being four charges of the sale of a narcotic in the first degree, an A-1 felony. The four sales were each over two ounces of pure cocaine, the charges state.
Archer indicated that Khodorkovskiy has not yet been charged with possession in the first degree, following the raid of his Brooklyn residence, which he said is in the offing. In addition, Archer indicated that more charges are coming, including the toughest drug laws in New York State, which would charge the defendants as drug kingpins.
When police raided Dyatchin’s residence, they reported finding $19,000 in cash, and over a half kilogram of cocaine, already packaged in hundreds of packets and ready to go.
He had recently moved back to The Hamptons from Florida. Police seized the Mercedes Benz they say he worked out of, as well as a motorcycle.
While Khodorkovskiy dealt exclusively with couture cocaine, Dyatchin also made several sales of MDMA, known on the street as Molly or Ecstasy in Montauk, to undercover agents.
Newtown Lane is home to many expensive designer shops including Prada and Louis Vuitton
Dyatchin rented this home in The Springs, a less salubrious area of East Hampton
Archer asked that bail be set for both at a minimum of $2 million, and that the source of any bail that was put up should first be examined to ensure that it is not illegally gained funds. He also pointed out the likelihood of even more serious charges being filed, to justify the high bail request.
Tony Mirvis, representing Khodorkovskiy, and Kenneth Russo, on behalf of Dyatchin, both argued against the high bail amount. Mirvis pointed out that his client has never missed a court date, and that such high bail was tantamount to a remand without bail. Russo said that his client has never been arrested before and had family in the courtroom.
Dyatchin’s sister, who lives in New Jersey, was seated in the audience.
Archer said that Dyatchin’s visa to stay in the US had expired, as had his passport. Born in Russia, Archer said Dyatchin is a citizen of Serbia.
