SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A South Lake Tahoe man who was arrested in Douglas County in 2023 after a high-speed chase pleaded guilty to two counts of a federal indictment on April 22, 2025 – distribution of cocaine and fentanyl.
Andrey Neshcheret, who was once a supervisor at California Burger in South Lake Tahoe, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine plus a special assessment per count of $100,000, though the government recommends Neshcheret be sentenced to the low end of the applicable guideline range for his offenses. A stipulation of his plea agreement is a payment of $200,000 at the time of his August 5 sentencing.
According to court documents, a confidential source told authorities in January 2022 that Neshcheret was his/her source of supply for cocaine in the South Lake Tahoe region. The confidential source had purchased cocaine from Neshcheret regularly in the period leading up to January 2022. In 2022, Neshcheret had been displaying to the confidential source several hundred blue tablets suspected of being fentanyl.
At the direction of law enforcement, the source contacted Neshcheret and arranged to purchase one ounce of cocaine and 20 fentanyl pills. On or about March 10, 2022, the unnamed source met with the defendant to make the purchase. Both the cocaine and pills were confirmed to contain fentanyl.
A search warrant was executed at a South Lake Tahoe residence where Neshcheret was renting a room in mid-January 2023. Inside his locked room were I14.7 grams of methamphetamine, 40.3 grams of cocaine, 22.2 grams of fentanyl, and 19.5 grams of a fentanyl analogue. Neshcheret was not present at the time the warrant was executed, but when law enforcement located him, he fled and engaged in a 100-mile-per-hour chase that took him into Nevada, where the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) located him on US395 near the Silver City RV Park. DCSO was joined by the Nevada Highway Patrol as they pursued the vehicle that led them up and down Clear Creek, to Indian Hills, then back to Clear Creek by Bodine’s, where Neshcheret hit a vehicle. DCSO took him into custody at gunpoint. As law enforcement was transporting Neshcheret, he overdosed on fentanyl, so the patrol car pulled over, and he was treated by medics and transported to the hospital.
Located in the vehicle were 10.836 grams of cocaine, 4.853 grams of cocaine base, 4.750 grams of fentanyl, 4.216 grams of heroin, and 8.6 grams of methamphetamine.
According to DCSO Sheriff Dan Coverley, Neshcheret still has charges of evading and drug possession pending in Douglas County.
In November 2021, Neshcheret filed nonprofit paperwork under the name of Tahoe Harm Reduction, Inc. The filing statement said they’d operate a syringe access program, providing syringes and needles while also supporting access to treatment, housing, and care, all paid for by fundraising. According to the California Secretary of State, they were awaiting required statements in 2022.