Former Key West police officer among those sentenced for tax and immigration crimes

FLORIDA –– The operators of a Key West, Florida, labor staffing company have been sentenced to prison for tax and immigration crimes related to their operation of the business, the US Department of Justice announced Friday.

Former City of Key West Police Officer Igor Kasyanenko was sentenced to 22 months in prison, and Roman Riabov was sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the IRS and conspiring to harbor aliens and induce them to remain in the United States, the DOJ said.

Mikus Berzins was sentenced to 28 months in prison, and Andrejs Kozlovs was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. The DOJ said both men knowingly hired 10 or more aliens who were not authorized to work in the United States.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from approximately 2014 to 2020, Berzins, Kasyanenko and Riabov owned and operated Phoenix ADB Services Inc. Kozlovs worked for the company from approximately 2016 to 2020. They each facilitated the employment of individuals in hotels, bars, and restaurants in Key West and other locations, even though the employees were not authorized to work in the United States.

In addition, according to the DOJ, all four men paid the workers without withholding Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes from their wages, and then did not report those wages to the IRS as required by law.

Kasyanenko and Riabov also allegedly encouraged workers to enter the United States and remain in the country, in violation of immigration laws.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham ordered defendants Berzins and Kasyanenko to each serve three years of supervised release, and Riabov and Kozlovs to each serve two years of supervised release.

Kasyanenko and Riabov were also ordered to pay approximately $3.4 million in restitution, and Kozlovs was ordered to pay approximately $3 million in restitution.

Berzins was ordered to pay a fine of $250,000.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida made the announcement.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Sean Beaty and Trial Attorneys Jessica A. Kraft and Nicholas J. Schilling, Jr. of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Clark for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.