DA pulls last minute stunt in court; had agreed after Marsy's Law compliance to allow Georgi Tonev to plead to three wage theft felonies and all human trafficking charges dropped

 

I just did a post yesterday on human trafficking suspect Georgi Tonev. I included links to all my previous coverage on Tonev for new readers.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2026/06/30-day-time-estimate-for-human.html?m=1

Here is what was included in yesterday's post and since I am doing this post today, the word tomorrow was changed to this morning when mentioning the bench warrant.

I have been regularly reporting on human trafficking suspect Georgi Antonov Tonev's court case. Some updates from April to June were added to the April 17 post.

Since my last update, there was an intervention hearing added on 6/5/26. Humboldt Superior Court Judge Steven Steward met with Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Buckley-Stein and Ms. Andrea Sullivan at 4 p.m. Intervention hearings are not open to media and the public.

Today was Readiness Conference for the jury trial scheduled for 6/15. Time estimate with jury selection is 30 days.

A bench warrant was issued and held until this morning. That was not addressed in court today.

I spoke with Ms. Sullivan yesterday and she said, "For sure Georgi will be there tomorrow. There will be a big update in court tomorrow for those interested in this case."

Even before court opened, based on the way the Humboldt County DA has handled this case. No other media was present.

Tonev was in court.  

I should have known something was up when I did not see Ms. Buckley-Stein. 

Humboldt Superior Court Judge Kaleb Cockrum asked attorneys about the jury trial scheduled on 6/15. 

Ms. Sullivan said Ms. Buckley-Stein needed to provide updates.

At that point, Deputy DA Jessica Watson said she was appearing on the case for the People. Ms. Buckley-Stein has been out ill yesterday and today. Ms. Watson said, "the People confirm."

This was a surprise to Ms. Sullivan and Tonev.

Ms. Sullivan told Judge Cockrum that she has text messages from Ms. Buckley-Stein. It was her understanding that the DA wanted to comply with Marsy's Law and offered Tonev a plea for three felonies. 

In court, Ms. Sullivan just said three felonies. Judge Cockrum set another hearing on Friday 6/12. Ms. Sullivan and Tonev can appear remotely.

After court, I spoke with Ms. Sullivan. She provided me more details. "Marsy's law compliance being done currently for three wage theft felonies for each of the John Doe's. All human trafficking charges would be dropped."

The DA's office knows there are issues with the so called alleged victims and the handling of this case. If they want to take it trial, more details will come out that I will not post now since there is a potential plea and the case has yet to go to trial.

If you have not read my live coverage and prior coverage on this case, not available elsewhere; you should for background and context for today's coverage. 

The DA has a case with issues; they have had losses.If you have not read my live coverage and prior coverage on this case, not available elsewhere; you should for background and context for today's coverage. If you followed my coverage on this regularly, I have called both the DA and HCSO in real time. Facts and information not reported elsewhere.