U.S. court documents reveal history of alleged 'Russian mafia associate' arrested in Saskatoon

U.S.court documents offer a glimpse into the winding road takenby Alex Alexidzefrom the former Soviet Unionto a cell in the Saskatoon jail.

The 48-year-old, described by U.S. police as a "documented Russian mafia associate," is facing multiple charges in Saskatoon. Police arrested him May 14 at the west-end apartment where he lived. Police say they recovered multiple false and forged documents from the apartment.

Alexidze is charged with procuring of false identity documents, possession of credit cards obtained by the commission of an offence, possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000, possession of citizenship documents for a fraudulent purpose, fraud over $5,000 and the use of forged documents.

Police also allege he had a stolen 2019 Chevrolet Malibu.

According to the U.S. documents, this is not the first time Alexidze has faced such allegations.

• Alleged 'Russian mafia associate' arrested in Saskatoon served time in Ohio prison for visa fraud

In 2015, he pleaded guilty in an Akron, Ohio, courtroom to trying to illegally obtain a legal permanent resident card, also known as a "green card."At the time, he had a Canadian Indian status card in the name of John Peters and a letter claiming he was a member of the Teslin Tlingit First Nation inthe southern Yukon.

As part of the court case, defence lawyer Damian Billakfiled Alexidze's personal history.

"Mr. Alexidze was raised in a stable, middle-class family in the Soviet Union. Due to his father's political involvement, Mr. Alexidze was sent to the United States in 1998 because of violent threats to the family, but ended up in Canada. Between 1998 and 2014, Mr. Alexidze lived in Canada, Brooklyn, New York, and Akron, Ohio," Billak wrote.

"Mr. Alexidze graduated from high school in 1992 in the former Soviet Union and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in hotel management from Georgian State University in the Republic of Georgia in 1997. Then, while living in Canada, Mr. Alexidze earned his [commercial driver's licence]and was employed with Horizon Transportation up until the time of his arrest."

Fingerprint file

Alexidze came onto the radar of the Department of Homeland Security in April 2015 when he walked into a Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Cleveland, according to an affidavit from special agent Mark Bodo.

The man presented himself as "John Peters" and was applying for a green card. As part of the process,staff ran a law enforcement database check, which included fingerprints, Bodo wrote.

"The computer system returned "Peters' " prints as belonging to Alex Alexide(sic), a Russian national, who had been previously processed and ordered removed from Harlingen, Texas," Bodo wrote.

Alexidzemaintained that he was John Peters, even correctly identifying the names of Peters' parents.

The agents in Ohio, meanwhile, reached out to their counterparts in New York. They learned that agents in Albany were already investigating.

An agent forwarded Bodoan RCMP document that showed a photo of Alexidzeside-by-side with a photo of the real John Peters.

It wasn't until after this revelation, and when Bodo read him his rights, that Alexidze requested a lawyerand asked for asylum based on political reasons.

When Bodoasked about the claimed political reason, the man said "his father was involved in politics in the Free Georgian Party from 1989 to 1998."

Canada bound

Alexidze was turned over to Canadian authorities in February2016.

"Provincial authorities in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario have active warrants for Alexidze's arrest on multiple charges related to theft, identity fraud, false documentation and other charges," a news release fromImmigration and Customs Enforcement said.

It was alleged that he committed the frauds in Canada from 2013 to2015, sometimes using the alias "Alex Row."

Saskatoon police are not saying how Alexidze came to their attention back in March.

He returns to court on Wednesday for a bail hearing.