John Chiv: One of the alleged victims named in Georgi Tonev unified information for his two HCSO cases

Apr 17, 2026

One of the alleged victims named in Georgi Tonev unified information for his two HCSO cases

I covered Georgi Tonev's arrest, charges filed and every court hearing. I also have exclusive information no one else has on this case. This case has had many twists and turns but as previously reported, Tonev posted bond on April 7.

I have the unified complaint for Tonev. I have included it with this post. I am going to wait until arraignment is completed before I get some clarification from Ms. Sullivan; if necesary.

One of the alleged victims is named in the information; Javier EscamillaGarcia. Taxes, wages, workman's comp are more of the counts than the human trafficking and marijuana cultivation in Humboldt County; hardly a shocker; thrown in to increase the number of counts.

As I have written before, whatever political hard on HCSO and the DA have for Tonev has not been revealed yet. With the plea deals the Humboldt County DA's office has given for similar charges; all this political theater may fool someone not familiar with Humboldt courts and the way Humboldt works.

HCSO chose to release photos of Tonev's arrest even though he was in custody when they don't for other violent suspects using they are in jail as an excuse.

If HCSO and the DA's office are so concerned about immigrants and human trafficking, then I would like to see the same effort put in to investigating other immigrant communities but in Humboldt, as readers have also commented, it is who you know and selective targeting.

Years after wasting resources on the Ray Christie case and two trials, a secret plea deal; his criminal conviction expunged and the truth coming out now in disclosures because it is a federal lawsuit where Humboldt insiders don't have control.

Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Buckley-Stein is the prosecutor for this case but other prosecutors have also appeared on the case.

It was not until I called out other local media in my April 7 post that there was follow up by one outlet with a summary from court minutes and a comment from Ms. Andrea Sullivan, Tonev's attorney. Did they quote her correctly and completely? Based on my experience with that reporter and outlet, you should compare the my live coverage from court and the court minutes provided. The other local media, who like this outlet, profited from marijuana are still not covering this case. It does not surprise anyone who has followed me since the beginning and anyone familiar with Humboldt that the other local media selectively covers court cases and news.

Arraignment not completed this morning due to power outage. Ms. Sullivan was present before power outage; not present after power outage. DA not present. Rescheduled to 4/20. Monday's update will be added to this post.