Federal immigration officers arrested 55-year-old Iranian national Farzad “Tony” Toutouni in Los Angeles on October 27, cutting short a decades-long run of unlawful residency and online bravado.
Toutouni, an online influencer who branded himself the “Iranian King of Instagram” under the handle @lunatic_living, faces federal charges for illegally re-entering the United States after prior deportation orders. His digital feed drew more than one million followers with images of private aircraft, stacks of physical currency, high-performance luxury vehicles, and hard- and soft-core pornography featuring scantily clad women.
Behind the digital spectacle lay an extensive criminal ledger.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Toutouni, who also operated under the alias Robert, originally entered the United States through legal channels in 1983. Six years later, his documented conflicts with law enforcement began.
Toutouni's domestic police record stretches back to 1989. Over several decades, municipal and state agencies booked him for criminal threats, criminal conspiracy, and the possession and unlawful sale of controlled substances.
Court convictions soon yielded prison time. A federal sentencing judge handed Toutouni more than 16 months in prison after prosecutors secured convictions across a web of serious offenses, including making or passing a fictitious check, grand theft, forgery, kidnapping, robbery, and extortion.
Immigration authorities initiated expulsion efforts three decades ago. In 1993, an immigration judge signed a formal deportation order against Toutouni. He defied the ruling and stayed.
A second federal removal order landed in 1999. ICE agents tracked him down and deported him to Mexico.
The exile collapsed in 2011.
Federal records show Toutouni later confessed to investigators that he re-entered the country unlawfully on or around April 4, 2011. He bypassed northern border checkpoints by crossing a river near St. Clair, Michigan, navigating the boundary waters on an electric raft he had purchased in Canada.
Once back on American soil, Toutouni established an opulent, high-visibility public footprint across Southern California. His lifestyle surfaced in local police inquiries in June 2023, when gunfire erupted outside a luxury West Hollywood mansion Toutouni was leasing. The shooting killed Israeli immigrant Emil Lahaziel following an alleged confrontation linked to a high-stakes poker game.
Local homicide detectives did not implicate or charge Toutouni in connection with Lahaziel’s death. The incident, however, intensified federal scrutiny on the felon living openly under federal deportation orders.
Toutouni will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Federal agents executed the apprehension in Los Angeles without reported incident, transferring Toutouni directly into immigration detention.
| Case Parameter | Official Status |
|---|---|
| Accused | Farzad “Tony” Toutouni (Alias: Robert), 55 |
| Citizenship | Iran |
| Initial Legal Entry | 1983 |
| Federal Offense | Unlawful Re-entry After Deportation |
| Conviction History | Exceeding 16 months (Grand Theft, Kidnapping, Extortion, Forgery) |
| Unlawful Re-entry Date | April 4, 2011 (St. Clair River, Michigan via electric raft) |
Toutouni remains detained in federal holding facilities while the Department of Homeland Security prepares formal removal pleadings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
| Current Custody |
| ICE Detention; Removal Proceedings Pending |