Latest news with #Todorova
CBS News
06-03-2025
- CBS News
Hollywood woman convicted of running drug-delivery network selling fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills
A Hollywood woman could face up to life in prison after a jury found her guilty Tuesday of selling fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and other narcotics through a drug-delivery network out of Los Angeles County. Mirela Todorova, a.k.a. "Mimi," provided cellphones to drivers who delivered the drugs to customers across Los Angeles County and elsewhere between June 2020 to March 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Todorova, 36-year-old citizen of the U.S., Canada and Bulgaria, was convicted of nine federal charges including three counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury and others related to the distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy. Between just a roughly two-month span, from November 2020 to January 2021, her sales of fentanyl-laced drugs led to at least three overdoses which prosecutors described as "near fatal." Some of her customers had warned her the supposed oxycodone pills contained fentanyl, and that they could be fatal, but she continued selling them until February 2021, according to prosecutors. "This case started with a single overdose and led to the identification of the dealer responsible for multiple overdoses," Matthew Allen, special agent in charge for the LA field office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. "This drug distributor had knowledge of the harm she was creating and didn't care." The Los Angeles Times reported that during the trial, three overdose survivors testified and two of them — along with other former customers of Todorova — had warned her in text messages obtained by the DEA that she was selling dirty drugs. The LA Times previously reported that a Beverly Hills man's death in November 2020 had led to the discovery of Todorova delivery service. While selling drugs like ecstasy, its business model resembled a food-delivery app with something of a menu of drugs. However, Todorova did not ultimately face charges related to that man's fatal overdose. At a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 12, she faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. She must also forfeit $498,555 in drug proceeds to the U.S. government. In March 2021, law enforcement officials served search warrants for her home and car which led to the seizure of "drug trafficking materials" and drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and "a single purported oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office statement. As the investigation continued, in December that year, Todorova told investigators she thought the drugs were vitamins, according to prosecutors. She also said she had only met Sei twice and never instructed anyone on how to make or package drugs. Sometimes, Todorova operated the drug-delivery scheme from abroad, hiring a 29-year-old Koreatown man, Mucktarr Kather Sei, as a driver who later ran it at her direction when she was outside the country. "Several times throughout the drug trafficking conspiracy, Todorova visited Mexico, where she continued to manage her drug operation while tending to her pet jaguar, 'Princess,'" reads the U.S. Attorney's Office statement. Sei and two other defendants, Christopher Y. Moreno Núñez, 29, of Pacific Palisades, and Ashley Alicia Nicole Johnson, 34, of Los Angeles, all pleaded guilty to felony narcotics charges last year and will be sentenced in the coming months.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Southern California woman convicted of operating drug ring, narcotics delivery service
A Southern California woman was convicted for operating a large-scale drug ring and narcotics delivery business. The suspect, Mirela 'Mimi' Todorova, 36, from Hollywood, is a citizen of the United States, Canada, and Bulgaria, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. From June 2020 to March 2021, Todorova operated a 'technology-savvy drug trafficking operation' to deliver drugs to customers across the Southland. She hired drivers and provided them with cell phones and narcotics to carry out the operation. Some of the drugs she sold included counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl. Todorova would sometimes deliver drugs to customers herself. Throughout the operation, Todorova visited Mexico several times where she continued managing her drug business 'while tending to her pet jaguar, 'Princess,'' court documents said. Todorova hired Mucktarr Kather Sei, 39, from L.A.'s Koreatown, as a driver and later gave him the keys to her Hollywood drug stash house, allowing him to run the drug ring's operations while she managed him from abroad. 'Despite warnings from customers that the oxycodone pills she was selling were laced with fentanyl and potentially fatal, Todorova continued to sell them,' prosecutors said. From November 2020 to January 2021, three customers who ingested Todorova's drugs experienced near-fatal overdoses. Despite knowing the danger, prosecutors said Todorova continued to sell fentanyl-laced pills until February 2021. In March 2021, search warrants were executed at Todorova's home and vehicle. Authorities found a collection of drug trafficking materials and narcotics, including methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and more, at the scene. In December 2021, she was accused of lying to law enforcement when saying she thought the drugs seized from her apartment were vitamins. Officials said she also lied when claiming she never instructed anyone how to package or make drugs and that she had only met her accomplice, Sei, twice before. On March 4, 2025, after a nine-day trial, authorities said Todorova was found guilty of: 1 count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury 1 count of distribution of fentanyl 3 counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury 1 count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine 1 count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine 1 count of possession with intent to distribute MDMA (Ecstasy) 1 count of making false statements to federal investigators Todorova must also forfeit $498,555 in drug proceeds to the government. She will face anywhere from 20 years to life in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 12. She has been in federal custody since April 2021. Sei and two other suspects were charged including Christopher Y. Moreno Núñez, 29, of Pacific Palisades, and Ashley Alicia Nicole Johnson, 34, of Los Angeles. In 2024, each pleaded guilty to felony narcotics distribution charges and will be sentenced in the coming months. 'This case highlights the importance of looking at every overdose incident,' said Matthew Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's L.A. Field Division. 'This case started with a single overdose and led to the identification of the dealer responsible for multiple overdoses. This drug distributor had knowledge of the harm she was creating and didn't care.' 'This defendant used her knowledge of technology to peddle the poison of fentanyl – despite knowing the pills she sold ran the risk of killing people,' said Joseph McNally, Acting U.S. Attorney. 'Investigating and prosecuting these cases saves lives. I commend our local and federal partners for stopping this dangerous criminal organization and bringing justice to the victims here.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Hollywood woman convicted of running delivery service dubbed 'Uber, but for drugs'
A Hollywood woman was convicted Tuesday of running a lucrative drug delivery business out of her apartment, with a jury finding her responsible for supplying fentanyl that caused multiple overdoses in 2020 and 2021. Mirela Todorova, 36, stood trial beginning last month, accused of leading an operation prosecutors described as 'Uber, but for drugs.' She was convicted on nine counts, including three charges of drug distribution that caused "serious bodily injury" in three non-fatal overdoses. After being ordered removed from the downtown Los Angeles courtroom earlier Tuesday by the judge for disrupting the prosecution's rebuttal in closing arguments, Todorova reacted impassively as the jury's unanimous verdict was read, betraying no emotion. Authorities said they were first alerted to the operation in 2020, when Beverly Hills resident Ray Mascolo was found dead, reportedly after purchasing fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills from one of Todorova's delivery drivers. Read more: Woman said to run Hollywood drug delivery service faces trial — but not for fatal overdose The three overdose survivors testified at the downtown Los Angeles trial. Two of them, along with several disgruntled customers, warned Todorova repeatedly throughout 2020 and 2021 that she was selling dirty drugs, according to text messages obtained by the Drug Enforcement Administration. But time and again, she ignored their concerns to keep profits up, her former delivery driver Kather Sei said during the trial. 'It's not something I signed up for,' said Sei, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of drugs with intent to distribute. 'People are getting sick. People are getting hurt.' In addition to the fentanyl distribution counts, which carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years, Todorova was found guilty of selling methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, engaging in conspiracy and making false statements to authorities. Read more: How a man's death in Beverly Hills exposed a sprawling Hollywood drug delivery business DEA agents who searched Todorova's apartment said they found several stockpiles of plastic bowls containing colorful pills and powders — beside them, packing materials and kitchen scales with chalky residue. Ziploc bags of cash, labeled by amount, were tucked into bedside drawers and strewn about the floor. Agents ultimately seized from the property a cache of drugs that included cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, mushrooms, and various pills and capsules, including a discolored oxycodone that tested positive for fentanyl. They also confiscated nearly $9,000 in cash and Todorova's iPhone, which prosecutors said stored 'a daily journal of a drug owner operating a drug business." Evidence from Todorova's iMessage and WhatsApp accounts showed she sent regularly updated drug menus to her drivers and clients, instructed Sei how to cook drugs in her apartment and demanded efficiency from other delivery drivers to maximize her profits, estimated at around $790,000. By linking her personal phone via iCloud to several 'work phones' used by her employees, prosecutors said, she kept a 'watchful eye over her business' — even as she routinely traveled between the U.S. and Mexico to raise her pet jaguar Princess. Taking the stand in her own defense Monday, Todorova rejected the idea that she orchestrated the conspiracy and instead cast herself in a supporting role opposite her ex-boyfriend, Javier Lopez, who also allegedly sold drugs in Hollywood around the same time using the same phone number and several of the same delivery drivers. Prosecutors said Monday that a DEA agent unsuccessfully attempted to contact Lopez to serve him a trial subpoena, and maintained that his alleged involvement in the conspiracy does not negate Todorova's guilt. Read more: OnlyFans, trafficking and drug dealers: How a jaguar cub wound up in a California suburb Todorova testified that she met Lopez, a self-proclaimed club promoter, more than a decade ago when she first began partying in Hollywood. "I was attracted to his personality and the way he knew everyone and was the center of attention," Todorova said. Tagging along with Lopez to the city's hottest nightclubs was exciting, she added, "same as it would be to any girl in her mid-20s who hadn't been out in a while." The first time a friend of Lopez's offered her cocaine, Todorova said, she politely declined, afraid she'd become addicted. But within a few years, she was a semi-regular drug user, then an occasional delivery driver for Lopez. Still, she said, she always considered the business to be his. "In Ms. Todorova, Lopez found easy prey," Todorova's attorney Charles Brown wrote Sunday in a last-minute motion to dismiss the case. "She was young, attractive, and apparently intelligent, but suffering from a neurodevelopmental disorder that made her socially naive, socially isolated, and emotionally starved for love and connection — which all made her particularly vulnerable to abuse and manipulation," Brown said in the motion. But Todorova's former delivery drivers and customers testified that she didn't answer to anyone. She said as much herself in numerous text references to 'my business' and 'my drivers.' In one message from 2018, she told a supplier Lopez was working for her. Read more: Mexico sends drug lord Caro Quintero and 28 others to the U.S. As for the overdoses, Brown argued during the trial that all three victims in the case had taken other drugs or been drinking alcohol the same night they purchased oxys from Todorova. Such substances have a 'synergistic effect,' he said, and therefore when it comes to pinpointing the cause of the overdose, 'it's not that easy of an equation.' But lab tests showed one overdose victim had a fentanyl metabolyte as well as cocaine and benzodiazepines — commonly sold as Valium or Xanax — in their system. And in text messages, Todorova confirmed to a customer that she had in stock fentanyl pills that looked like "Perc 30s," or oxy blues. She said they were $30 apiece. Read more: Newsom signs bill pushing for Narcan in workplace first aid kits A Bulgarian immigrant who attended grade school in Canada before her family relocated to Newbury Park in the early 2000s, Todorova was a quiet and intelligent child, her mother Margaret Todorova testified during the trial. Before her solo move to Hollywood in 2020, Todorova was on track to pursue a career in biotechnology. Even as Todorova flung herself into her ex-boyfriend's orbit, her mother said she never stopped advocating for her to return to her studies. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
05-03-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Hollywood woman convicted of running delivery service dubbed ‘Uber, but for drugs'
A Hollywood woman was convicted Tuesday of running a lucrative drug delivery business out of her apartment, with a jury finding her responsible for supplying fentanyl that caused multiple overdoses in 2020 and 2021. Mirela Todorova, 36, stood trial beginning last month for leading an operation prosecutors described as 'Uber, but for drugs.' She was convicted on nine counts, including three charges for drug distribution that caused 'serious bodily injury' in three separate non-fatal overdoses. After being ordered removed from the downtown Los Angeles courtroom earlier Tuesday by the judge for disrupting the prosecution's rebuttal in closing arguments, Todorova reacted impassively as the jury's unanimous verdict was read, betraying no emotion. Authorities said they were first alerted to the conspiracy in 2020, when Beverly Hills resident Ray Mascolo was found dead reportedly after purchasing fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills from one of Todorova's delivery drivers. The three overdose survivors testified at the downtown Los Angeles trial. Two of them, along with several disgruntled customers, warned Todorova repeatedly throughout 2020 and 2021 that she was selling dirty drugs, according to text messages obtained by the Drug Enforcement Adminstration. But time and again, she ignored their concerns to keep profits up, her former delivery driver Kather Sei said during the trial. 'It's not something I signed up for,' said Sei, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of drugs with intent to distribute. 'People are getting sick. People are getting hurt.' In addition to the fentanyl distribution counts, which carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years, Todorova was found guilty of selling methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, engaging in conspiracy and making false statements to authorities. DEA agents who searched Todorova's apartment said they found several stockpiles of plastic bowls containing colorful pills and powders — beside them, packing materials and kitchen scales with chalky residue. Ziploc bags of cash, labeled by amount, were tucked into bedside drawers and strewn about the floor. Agents ultimately seized from the property a cache of drugs that included cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, mushrooms, and various pills and capsules, including a discolored oxy that tested positive for fentanyl. They also confiscated nearly $9,000 in cash and Todorova's iPhone, which prosecutors said stored 'a daily journal of a drug owner operating a drug business.' Evidence from Todorova's iMessage and WhatsApp accounts showed she sent regularly updated drug menus to her drivers and clients, instructed Sei how to cook drugs in her apartment and demanded efficiency from other delivery drivers to maximize her profits, estimated at around $790,000. By linking her personal phone via iCloud to several 'work phones' used by her employees, prosecutors said she kept a 'watchful eye over her business' — even as she routinely traveled between the U.S. and Mexico to raise her pet jaguar Princess. Taking the stand in her own defense Monday, Todorova rejected the notion that she orchestrated the conspiracy and instead cast herself in a supporting role opposite her ex-boyfriend, Javier Lopez, who also allegedly sold drugs in Hollywood around the same time using the same phone number and several of the same delivery drivers. Prosecutors said Monday that a DEA agent unsuccessfully attempted to contact Lopez to serve him a trial subpoena, and maintained that his alleged involvement in the conspiracy does not negate Todorova's guilt. Todorova testified that she met Lopez, a self-proclaimed club promoter, more than a decade ago when she first began partying in Hollywood. 'I was attracted to his personality and the way he knew everyone and was the center of attention,' Todorova said. Tagging along with Lopez to the city's hottest nightclubs was exciting, she added, 'same as it would be to any girl in her mid-twenties who hadn't been out in a while.' The first time a friend of Lopez's offered her cocaine, Todorova said, she politely declined, afraid she'd become addicted. But within a few years, she was a semi-regular drug user, then an occasional delivery driver for Lopez. Still, she said, she always considered the business to be his. 'In Ms. Todorova, Lopez found easy prey,' Todorova's attorney Charles Brown wrote Sunday in a last-minute motion to dismiss the case. 'She was young, attractive, and apparently intelligent, but suffering from a neurodevelopmental disorder that made her socially naive, socially isolated, and emotionally starved for love and connection — which all made her particularly vulnerable to abuse and manipulation,' Brown said in the motion. But Todorova's former delivery drivers and customers testified that she didn't answer to anyone. She said as much herself in numerous text references to 'my business' and 'my drivers.' In one message from 2018, she told a supplier Lopez was working for her. As for the overdoses, Brown argued during the trial that all three victims in the case had taken other drugs or been drinking alcohol the same night they purchased oxys from Todorova. Such substances have a 'synergistic effect,' he said, and therefore when it comes to pinpointing the cause of the overdose, 'it's not that easy of an equation.' But lab tests showed one overdose victim had a fentanyl metabolyte as well as cocaine and benzodiazepines — commonly sold as Valium or Xanax — in their system. And in text messages, Todorova confirmed to a customer that she had in stock fentanyl pills that looked like 'Perc 30s,' or oxy blues. She said they were $30 apiece. A Bulgarian immigrant who attended grade school in Canada before her family relocated to Newbury Park in the early 2000s, Todorova was a quiet and intelligent child, her mother Margaret Todorova testified during the trial. Before her solo-move to Hollywood in 2020, Todorova was on track to pursue a career in biotechnology. Even as Todorova flung herself into her ex-boyfriend's orbit, her mother said she never stopped advocating for her to return to her studies.
