SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A California man will spend the rest of his life in prison for arranging the murder of a Scottsdale barber.
Robert Celifie of Los Angeles was sentenced to natural life after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy, first-degree murder and burglary.
The victim, Ilya Shimonov, was known as "Mike the Barber." He ran a mobile barbershop out of a converted school bus.
On January 3, 2022, he had just finished a haircut in a Scottsdale hotel parking lot when he was shot multiple times and killed.
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His stolen cell phone led investigators to Las Vegas, then Los Angeles, and to Celifie's car. Prosecutors say he supplied the gun, the money, and photos of the victim to the man who pulled the trigger.
Shimonov's mother, Bella, thanked Scottsdale police and Maricopa County prosecutors for their work on Monday at a news conference.
She described her son as always being happy. She said it was his business idea to have a barber shop on wheels.
"That was his dream, and he made it happen. Makes me proud. He was a smart boy," Bella Shimonov said through tears.
The man who fired the gun, Chaze Cable, was convicted in 2025 and also received a natural life sentence.
At the news conference, Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Richard Dusterhoft said investigators don't believe Shimonov ever met the two men who plotted to kill him, though they may have had some common acquaintances.
He described the evidence in this murder case as "extensive," involving 48 search warrants in five states and dozens of surveillance videos.
Scottsdale Police Lieutenant Hugh Lockerby called it a "brutal murder."
"Both of these violent individuals will spend the rest of their lives in prison and not in our community," Lockerby said.
