What’s happened to 7 charged in Russian nationals’ murder-for-hire, money laundering case

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What’s happened to 7 charged in Russian nationals’ murder-for-hire, money laundering case

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Virginia Bridges
·4 min read
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As federal officials investigated a pair of Russian nationals for money laundering and a murder-for-hire plot, they also built cases against five others involved in the high-profile case.

On Friday, Leonid and Tatyana Teyf, who divorced in 2017, are set to appear in separate hearings in which defendants typically enter a guilty plea. Leonid Teyf faces up to 20 years for charges that include money laundering about $40 million, bribery of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official and visa fraud.

Leonid Teyf is also accused of plotting to kill his former housekeeper’s son, who he believed was having an affair with Tatyana.

A federal prosecutor said Teyf was planning to either have him killed in the United States or deported to Russia and killed there.

Tatyana Teyf faces up to 10 years on multiple money-laundering charges, as well as lying on tax return.

In the more than two years since the Teyfs’ charges were made public after the FBI raided their North Raleigh mansion in December 2018, the five others charged in the case, or who faced related charges, have all pleaded guilty.

Here’s what has happened with their cases:

John Patrick Cotter

Cotter, of Apex, was charged with trying to give a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent $10,000 to deport the man suspected of having an affair with Tatyana Teyf.

Court records indicate Leonid Teyf told a confidential source he wanted someone to get his former housekeeper’s son to admit the affair and then kill him.

Cotter met the Homeland Security agent twice in Atlanta, court records said, then with Teyf in a Raleigh restaurant, where the businessman offered a boat, vehicle or cash to investigate the son. The payment was to be $25,000, $10,000 of which was a down payment.

Cotter was charged with bribery of a public official and aiding and abetting and pleaded guilty to those charges on July 11, 2019. He faces up to 15 years in prison but hasn’t been sentenced.

Stephen Edward Myers Jr.

Myers, of Raleigh, was charged in Wake County with two counts of cyberstalking and tampering with a vehicle in associations with Teyf’s efforts to keep tabs on the former housekeeper’s son.

During Cotter’s meeting with the Homeland Security agent, Cotter said a GPS tracking device had been put on the man’s car by a private detective, who was later identified as Myers, according to a search warrant for Myers’ home.

Other evidence shows Myers conspired with Teyf and Cotter to plant drugs in the housekeeper’s son’s car, the warrant states. Myers told federal officials he put a tacker on the vehicle twice, the warrant states. He also put one on Teyf’s wife’s car once.

During the search of Myers’ home, police found about four grams of cocaine.

In May 2019, Myers pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and possession of drug paraphernalia. Under a plea deal, he was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation.

Alexey and Olesya Timofeev

Alexey Timofeev, a Russian citizen who was living in Darien, Illinois, was charged with multiple money laundering crimes and conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens.

Olesya Timofeeva, his wife, was charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and making a false statement in an immigration proceeding charges.

The Timofeevs came to the United States in October 2014 on a B-1 tourist visa. They visited New York, which was their stated purpose, but them traveled to Raleigh and stayed with the Teyf family, according to court documents.

Then they moved to Chicago to work as a bookkeeper and financial overseer for transportation companies owned by the Teyfs.

In 2015, Olesya Timofeeva enrolled in school and changed his status from a visitor visa to a student visa. On the application, she indicated that she and her husband weren’t employed. In reality, according to court documents, she was unlawfully employed by Teyf earning about $1,600 per week.

Alexey Timofeev pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 , 2020, to a Class B misdemeanor of making fraudulent statements in a visa application as part of a plea agreement. He faces up to six months in prison and five years of supervised release. He has yet to be sentenced.

Oleysa Timofeeva also pleaded guilty that day to similar charge but a felony. She faces up to five years in prison.

Alexei Izrailevich Polyakov

Polyakov was charged with making false statements in an immigration document and naturalization fraud.

Polyakov came to the United States in 1997 as a refugee. In 2016, he failed to report on a citizenship application all of his arrests and jail time on domestic assault, simple assault, sexual solicitation and other charges, according to federal documents.

Polyakov pleaded guilty on May 15, 2019, to making a false statement on an immigration document. He was sentenced to time served after having remained incarcerated since he arrested on Dec. 6, 2018,

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