Robert Celifie was convicted of arranging the 2022 killing of mobile barber Ilya Shimonov, whose stolen phone helped investigators trace the crime.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A California man has been sentenced to natural life in prison for arranging the murder of a Scottsdale mobile barber in a case investigators unraveled through a stolen cellphone, surveillance footage and evidence gathered across several states.
Robert Celifie of Los Angeles was sentenced for the Jan. 3, 2022, killing of Ilya Shimonov, known as “Mike the Barber,” the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced Monday. A jury found Celifie guilty Aug. 25 of conspiracy, premeditated first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. Chaze Cable, the man prosecutors said carried out the killing, was convicted of the same crimes in 2025 and also received a natural life sentence.
Shimonov ran a mobile barbershop from a converted school bus. He had just finished a haircut appointment in the parking lot of a Scottsdale hotel on the evening of Jan. 3, 2022, when he was shot multiple times and killed. Authorities discovered that his cellphone had been taken from the scene, providing investigators with an early lead in a case that would eventually stretch from Arizona to Nevada and California.
Police tracked Shimonov’s phone as it traveled from Scottsdale to Las Vegas and then toward Los Angeles. Investigators found that the phone was moving with a Mercedes registered to Celifie, according to prosecutors. Detectives determined Cable had driven to Scottsdale in Celifie’s vehicle and that a gun belonging to Celifie was used in the killing. Authorities later recovered the weapon during the investigation.
Prosecutors said Celifie did more than provide the vehicle and gun. Investigators found evidence that he supplied Cable with money, photographs of Shimonov, information about where and when to find him and instructions to take the barber’s phone after the killing. Investigators also recovered electronic communications that authorities said showed Celifie and Cable discussing Shimonov, his mobile barbershop and the location where the crime would take place.
The stolen phone became a central piece of evidence. Scottsdale police used location information, license plate reader records and surveillance footage to trace the movement of the people and vehicle connected to the case. Authorities said the investigation ultimately involved 48 search warrants in five states, surveillance video collected from dozens of locations and terabytes of digital data.
The investigation drew assistance from multiple agencies, including the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Henderson Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and Texarkana, Arkansas, police. Scottsdale Police Chief Joe LeDuc said the outcome reflected years of work by Scottsdale detectives and their law enforcement partners.
Authorities have not publicly established a clear motive for why Shimonov was selected. Investigators have said they believe taking his cellphone was part of the plan, but officials have not explained why the phone was sought. Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Richard Dusterhoft said investigators did not believe Shimonov had ever met Celifie or Cable, although authorities found indications that they may have shared acquaintances in Arizona.
Shimonov’s mother, Bella Shimonov, spoke publicly after the sentencing and thanked investigators and prosecutors for pursuing the case. She remembered her son as a happy man who had worked to turn his idea for a barbershop on wheels into a business. “That was his dream, and he made it happen,” she said. “Makes me proud. He was a smart boy.”
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Celifie was responsible for the killing even though prosecutors said he was not the person who fired the gun. With Celifie and Cable both convicted and serving natural life sentences, authorities said the prosecutions have concluded against the two men identified in the murder-for-hire plot. The underlying reason Shimonov was targeted, however, remains publicly unresolved.
Author note: Last updated October 26, 2026.