Brighton Beach Gangland Hit Job Turned Extortion Case Coming To A Cadence

The man who brokered a deal between a Brighton Beach Russian mobster and the man he was hired to kill pleaded guilty to the extortion charges yesterday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Boris Kotlyarsky, 68, confessed in Manhattan federal court that he persuaded Oleg Mitnik, the man who had the target on his head, to pay him and assassin Boris Nayfeld $125,000 in exchange for his life.

Anatoly Potik, a Russian businessman, allegedly offered Nayfeld, 69, $100,000 to kill his son-in-law, Mitnik, who runs an international shipping company, because Mitnik was in the middle of a $20 million divorce from Potik’s daughter.

Mitnik paid Kotlyarsky and Nayfeld $50,000 as part of the deal in January after Kotlyarsky repeatedly told him about Nayfeld and his history of organized crime and affinity for violence, according to prosecutors.

The deal went south after the first transaction, which took place in a Brooklyn restaurant. After Nayfeld left the restaurant he was greeted by a fleet of law enforcement officers just outside the restaurant, according to Gangsters Inc.

The charges that Kotlyarsky pleaded guilty to are extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion, each of which carry a sentence of up to 20 years. However, in the plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office, Kotlyarsky only faces about three to four years in prison.

“As Boris Kotlyarsky has admitted, he took cruel advantage of a desperate situation, giving a victim the extortionate choice between paying off his hitman or death,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “Kotlyarsky’s manipulation did not result in a payoff, but instead a criminal conviction.”

Nayfeld agreed to a plea deal that requires him to testify against other mobsters two weeks ago. Now Nayfeld is working with the feds in the hopes that they’ll be easy on him. He faces 40 years in prison for extortion.