Man bringing drugs to Burning Man sent to prison

A New York man was sentenced Monday to nearly three years in federal prison for trying to bring drugs to the Burning Man festival in Northern Nevada last year, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Alexander Zelyakovsky, 46, pleaded guilty in February to possession with intent to distribute five different controlled substances — 1,125 grams of ecstasy, 376 grams of mushrooms, .0173 of a gram of LSD, 229 grams of cocaine and 331 grams of ketamine — after they were found in the back of the truck he was driving to the festival, a release said.

Zelyakovsky was on his way to the 2018 rendition of Burning Man, the annual festival that draws thousands to the Black Rock Desert, to sell the drugs when he was stopped and arrested in Colorado, the release said. He was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper on Aug. 25 for a traffic infraction, and he consented to a search of the truck.

“The trooper noted the tailgate of the truck was unusually heavy and looked behind a factory panel, discovering the controlled substances and currency concealed within,” the release said. He was carrying several pounds of the drugs and nearly $27,000 in cash, according to court documents cited in the release.

He intended to sell the drugs at the festival and use the proceed to buy more drugs to sell, the release said.

Zelyakovsky was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. He will be detained at home for the first six months of his release.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.