| Minor Character: Miami | |
 | |
| Name | Ivan Sarnoff |
| Gender | Male |
| City | Miami |
| Occupation | Russian Mob Boss Fight Club Owner |
| Pathology | Gang Leader Serial Proxy Killer Murderer |
| Modus Operandi | Beating Kidnapping Harassment |
| No. of Victims | 1+ killed 1+ kidnapped 1+ attempted 7+ killed by proxy 2+ kidnapped by proxy 1+ framed by proxy 1+ harassed by proxy 1+ assaulted/tortured by proxy 15+ attempted by proxy |
| Status | Deceased |
| Portrayed By | Andrew Divoff |
| First Appearance | Raging Cannibal |
Ivan Sarnoff (Russian: Иван Сарнофф) is the local chapter boss of the Miami Russian Mob who appeared in Season 7 of CSI: Miami. He is also Horatio's personal arch-nemesis during this time.
Season Seven[]
Raging Cannibal[]
Ivan Sarnoff is first introduced as a suspect in the murders of three men connected to him and his club. For the first two murders the CSIs are working on they arrest his associate Greg Donner after he is confirmed to have been the one who killed Vince Koslov after Vince killed Andrew Brodsky. The evidence suggests that Ivan ordered the hits but Greg refuses to roll on his boss and he is arrested. When they find the body of Nathan Madden they also find Sarnoff’s fingerprint on his body and realize he killed him. Sarnoff however provides them the "real killer" Jason Weller and his testimony supposedly confirms it. Before leaving the police station Horatio confronts Ivan and claims he is going to get him.
And They’re Offed[]
Ivan did not appear again until one of his men, Nicholas Brink, intimidated Mark Gantry, an acquaintance of Ryan Wolfe.
After Nicholas commits suicide, Ivan is questioned by Horatio and tells him that Nicholas was a "loyal friend", it is also revealed that Mark owes Sarnoff a 3-year debt and that Mark drugs horses to jump the debt.
Mark runs into Ivan in a parking lot, promising to arrange a race for Sarnoff. Sarnoff says he will fix a lot of runs to make up for Banyon's underdosing. Before Sarnoff can end his threat, Horatio steps out of the shadows—he set a trap for Sarnoff. Ryan grabs his playbook and sees still racing pages. Sarnoff taunts Horatio, promising that the CSI is causing himself a world of pain and that trouble is coming for him and his team...all of whom he has under surveillance. As Sarnoff's men watch, Ryan helps Mark and Billy Gantry pack up and out of town.
Target Specific[]
When a series of robberies to rich people connects with a photographer named Cameron West who has photos of the CSI team reveals to Horatio that he works with Ivan, later Horatio sees Ivan in prison and he tells him that he cannot avoid what is going to happen.
When Tony Ramirez a man who works as a coach reveals that his job was to make sure the houses were empty so that the third man involved could rob the houses and he refuses to say the name of the man who works with him and West.
Finally when the man who works with West and Ramirez is identified as Sergei Patrenko, while being taken away by Horatio and Calleigh, one of Sarnoff's men shoots and kills him, while Sarnoff receives news of someone in jail, Ryan is captured and interrogated and beaten by Sarnoff's men. He refuses to tell them anything, causing them to hit him repeatedly.
Wolfe in Sheep's Clothing[]
He later attempted to have Andrei force Ryan to cover up the murder of Ian Warner through kidnapping Billy Gantry, Mark's son. This however fails as both killers are arrested for the murder and Andrei is killed by Horatio when he tries to kill Billy.
Seeing Red[]
Much later Ivan is poisoned and taken to the hospital, but on the way there, a car and van cut off the ambulance and forced it onto the train tracks, right in the path of an oncoming train. The train crashes into the vehicle and sends it spiraling. In the melee, Sarnoff grabs a gun and flees, shooting both the police car that has arrived and the people in the two cars that cut off the ambulance. The man in the car, Jacob Yarovski tells CSIs that Sarnoff screwed up an arms deal and the Russians decided to eliminate him
Then Ivan kidnaps a doctor named Sarah Fordham and forces her to treat him. After he lets her go, Horatio meets Sarnoff, who tells him that they have a common enemy in Kasparov and offers to help him take down the man. Sarnoff runs off before Horatio can catch him.
Finally Horatio tracks Ivan with Yelina Salas' GPS, sending Caine to Kasparov's bar. He finds the Russian dying, and Kasparov tells him that Sarnoff hit him and took Yelina. Horatio leaves Kasparov with a gun to finish off and chases Sarnoff and Yelina, chasing them into a parking lot. He manages to stop them, shoots Sarnoff and rescues Yelina.
Known Victims[]
- October 13, 2008: Nathan Madden (beaten to death)
- May 18, 2009:
- Gregor Kasparov (beaten within an inch of his life; later committed suicide to save himself the pain)
- Yelina Salas (kidnapped and presumably attempted to kill, was rescued)
Victims by Proxy[]
- October 13, 2008:
- Andrew Brodsky (carotid ripped out with Vince Koslov’s teeth on Sarnoff’s orders)
- Vince Koslov (stabbed three times in the chest by Greg Donner)
- 2009:
- January 19: Mark Gantry (sent Nicholas Brink to intimidate him; was rescued)
- March 23: Sergei Patrenko (shot once in the head on Sarnoff’s orders)
- March 24:
- Ryan Wolfe (kidnapped and tortured by Andrei)
- Billy Gantry (kidnapped by Andrei and later attempted to kill; was rescued)
- Ian Warner (shot once in the chest by Cynthia Lang)
Known Accomplices[]
Mobsters[]
- Jason Weller (extreme fighter/enforcer)
- Andrew Brodsky (extreme fighter/thief)
- Vincent "Vince" Koslov (extreme fighter/assassin)
- Greg Donner (assassin)
- Nicholas Brink (enforcer)
- Gregor Kasparov (Sarnoff's second-in-command)
- Sergei Patrenko (thief)
- Cameron West (photographer)
- Tony Ramirez (horse trainer)
- Andrei (enforcer)
- Jim Colton (thief)
- Cynthia Lang (assassin)
- Peter Morenko (manager of Sarnoff's gym)
Blackmail victims[]
- Mark Gantry (blackmailed to drug horses and fix races)
- Ryan Wolfe (blackmailed him to cover up a murder)
Appearances[]
| CSI:Miami | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | # | |
| Season 7 | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | X | 4 |
| Total | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||