Mar 26, 2025
Five years after the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department and federal law enforcement agents raided the homes of Eyton Senders, his relatives and Tibor’s Kosher Meats in 2020, Senders is being charged with a felony surrounding a multi-million-dollar drug trade operation.
Senders, 37, was charged in federal court in Cleveland alongside two others, Jake Lindsey and Justen Balay, with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute hashish oil, a cannabis concentrate, according to federal court documents.
The charges, filed March 17, were filed via information, meaning all three agreed to forgo the grand jury process. It is unknown what that means.
Multiple calls by the Cleveland Jewish News for comment were made to their defense attorneys, Edmund Searby of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur in Cleveland, Justin M. Weatherly of Henderson, Mokhtari & Weatherly in Cleveland and Victor Sherman of Law Offices of Victor Sherman in Los Angeles. Searby and Weatherly could not be reached and Sherman said he could not comment.
U.S. Attorney Henry F. DeBaggis II and U.S Attorney David M. Toepfer are representing the United States of America in the case titled “United States of America v. Senders.”
Toepfer told the CJN on March 26 that he could not comment on the case and details as it is still pending. Arraignment dates have not yet been set.
On Sept. 22, 2020, Tibor’s Kosher Meats in University Heights, houses in Beachwood, Moreland Hills and University Heights were raided under federal search warrants, the CJN previously reported.
One of the houses searched was at 14393 Washington Blvd. in University Heights, and owned by Toni Dee and Cary Senders, the CJN reported. Their son, Ilan Senders, who along with Eyton Senders own Tibor’s, lived at the residence.
Law enforcement officials carried out at least two boxes and wheeled a suitcase from the University Heights house, the CJN reported. Law enforcement was also heard using a tool that is used to break open walls, floors or doors, the CJN reported.
Another house, owned by Jason and Rachel Zuchowski, at 2543 S. Green Road in Beachwood was also searched, the CJN reported. Rachel is the daughter of Toni Dee and Cary Senders, and the sister of Ilan Senders.
Another home owned by the Zuchowskis at 2560 Larchmont Road in Beachwood was also searched and a canine unit was used, the CJN reported.
At Tibor’s, at 2185 S. Green Road, there were at least six law enforcement vehicles, including two with Maryland license plates, and several law enforcement agents present the afternoon of Sept. 22, 2020. Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was present as well. A box and bag were taken from the shop at about 1 p.m., the CJN reported.
In a previous interview with the CJN on Sept. 23, 2020, Ilan Senders, said, “We’re doing beautiful. We’re open for business as usual and we’re going to continue to be open for business as usual.”
When asked questions specifically about the raid on his business, Ilan Senders said, “I’m not answering any other questions like that,” the CJN reported.
The CJN reported in March 2021, a U.S. Attorney’s Office was attempting to seize $2,197,323 in cash, houses, gold, a boat, a sports car, watches and other assets following the raids on Sept, 22. Six properties were on the list – including four homes in Greater Cleveland and two properties in Los Angeles, Calif. – along with a vacant parcel on South Green Road, a 1996 Porsche 911, a 2019 Nautique G25 Boat with trailer, a Patek Philippe Rose men’s wristwatch, three Rolex men’s wristwatches, and a 1 Metalor kilogram gold bar.
A 40-page complaint dated Feb. 17, 2021, seeking civil forfeiture, described a pattern of activity in which Dank Vapes and Dankwoods – which manufacture and distribute THC cartridges in California – funnel funds through Tibor’s Kosher Meats, the CJN reported.
THC is the compound that produces the high from marijuana.
“The Major Crimes Task Force is conducting an investigation of Eyton Senders and Justen Balay and others who have been involved in an interstate drug trafficking and money laundering operation,” DeBaggis wrote in his complaint seeking civil forfeiture, the CJN reported. “Tibor’s is another entity in which (Eyton) Senders is using to launder his illicit drug proceeds. This business, similar to other businesses listed in this affidavit, allows Senders a place to legitimize his ill-gotten gains.”
DeBaggis wrote that Senders, Balay and others manufactured and distributed more than 3.7 million THC vape cartridges from California to various other states, including the Northern District of Ohio, from July 2018 through July 2019.
DeBaggis continued to write that as Senders “emerged as a partner,” he and another relative established a Fifth Third Bank personal checking account and listed their occupations as co-owners or a butcher for Tibor, the CJN reported. As they set up bank accounts to launder money, Senders and Balay repeatedly listed their address where Ilan Senders lived with his parents in University Heights.
The CJN reported that DeBaggis said the search of that home “revealed various amounts of suspected marijuana, THC vape cartridges, THC edibles in a clear vacuum sealed pouch, (two) loaded handguns, and financial records and documents for Tibor’s Kosher Meats.”
Tibor Rosenberg, who owned the store for about 30 years, sold Tibor’s Kosher Meats to Ilan Senders of the Sendies Boys Limited LLC, which was established June 17, 2019, for an undisclosed amount, which went through on Sept. 9, 2019, the CJN previously reported. A trade name assignment was executed on Sept. 11, 2019, the CJN previously reported.
Among the deposits into an account was a $100,000 deposit on Sept. 9, 2019, from “one of the third party money launderers used by Dank Vapes DTO in their illegal enterprise,” DeBaggis wrote, the CJN reported. “This correlates with the purchase date of Tibor’s Kosher Meats.”
When Rosenberg decided to sell the shop and his name, he did not know one of the new owners was engaged in an alleged multi-million-dollar drug trade operation in California, he previously told the CJN.
Rosenberg previously told the CJN he sold the business because his daughters were not interested in taking over the butcher shop.
Ilan Senders was working at the shop for two years before taking over as part owner.
Ilan Senders told the CJN, at the time that he planned to make one immediate change – opening the store until midnight on Thursdays to serve freshly made kugel and cholent. He also said he was planning to raise the presence of the business on the internet and in social media, the CJN reported.
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