Brooklyn bouncer suspected in 2009 slaying busted on immigration charges
A one-time Brooklyn bouncer linked to the 2009 fatal bar beating and burial of a Russian immigrant was finally busted — for lying on his application to become a U.S. citizen, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Dmitri Prus, born in Ukraine and an Israeli citizen, was charged with the March 2013 unlawful procurement of naturalization on federal documents, with the initial paperwork in his case filed just 10 days after he allegedly got rid of Ildar Gazizouline’s remains, court papers claim.
News reports at the time said Gazizouline had himself just become a U.S. citizen and was out celebrating with friends on the night of his June 21, 2009, disappearance. His car was later found parked in a lot near the Fusion Night Club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Prus — who had a background in mixed martial arts — lied in the “Good Moral Character” section of his citizenship application and signed the document under penalty of perjury, according to authorities. He also created a bogus cover story to various New York state investigators looking into the disappearance, court documents said.
“The lies told by Prus to police investigators were part of a series of false statements he would give about his role in Gazizouline’s killing and disappearance,” authorities alleged in Brooklyn Federal Court papers.
“Indeed, the government’s evidence shows that Prus has repeatedly lied to U.S. Immigration authorities about this incident in order to obtain... his citizenship. Given his violent history and past efforts at obstruction, the defendant poses a risk to the community.”
Prus has never faced any other criminal charges, said prosecutors, who noted his criminal behavior went well beyond a false statement.
“The defendant committed a vicious assault and strangulation before concealing the victim’s corpse in a forest,” said prosecutors.
The 39-year-old Gazizouline was intoxicated on the night when he was punched in the face, dragged by Prus in a choke-hold and left to die on a bench inside the nightclub, according to authorities.
Prus and several unidentified men later loaded the corpse into a vehicle for the 100-mile ride to a wooded area of Sullivan County, court documents charged. The victim’s skeletal remains, including his skull, lower jaw and teeth, were discovered by a hiker in May 2010, with the victim later identified through a DNA match, said local police.
“Prus falsely stated that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested, when in fact, the defendant knew and believed he had committed one or more crimes under New York State law ... arising from his participation in the assault and killing,” wrote prosecutors.
Gazizouline arrived in the U.S. from the Soviet Union in 1992, authorities said. The Times-Herald Record reported he worked exporting car and truck parts to his native country, adding that Russian media had indicated his family believed the disappearance was related to his job.
