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You know it’s a tough market when an agent thinks his next best option is trying to smuggle nearly 164 pounds of cocaine through Chicago’s Union Station.
That’s what LA-based agent Jerome Nalbandian resorted to this month, but authorities stopped him in his tracks once they saw him on April 13 toting four roller bags loaded up with 75.15 kilos of suspected cocaine through the station.
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“Wow. That’s a lot,” Cook County Circuit Court Judge Deidre Dyer said during Nalbandian’s first court appearance, CWB Chicago reported. “I mean, that’s a lot.”
“I’m totally shocked it’s not a federal case,” Judge Dyer continued, “but whatever. Nobody comes from another state with that many kilos. I don’t know. But I guess somebody in the drug unit was just itching to file something.”
According to California’s Department of Real Estate license records, Nalbandian is currently licensed with Dream Team Real Estate Consultants, Inc., based in Sherman Oaks, California. He also has a profile on Equity Union Real Estate’s website, a company that Dream Team Real Estate Consultants, Inc. also does business as, which says he specializes in residential sales across Southern California, including single-family properties, condos and investment properties, as well as some commercial and land sales. His bio on that website states he “brings an uncompromising level of responsive, attentive service — while adhering to the highest level of ethical standards.”
Nalbandian could not be reached for comment.
The state of the market has taken a toll on some agents in the last few years, which may be prompting some — like Nalbandian — to pursue other side hustles.
Cocaine and other illegal substances are often traded by what’s known as an 8-ball, or one-eighth of an ounce, according to the Carolina Center for Recovery. An 8-ball can be sold for anywhere between $120 to $300. Nalbandian had enough cocaine for about 21,208 8-balls, which could net him up to $6.36 million.
With the median home sales price at $419,200 as of the end of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, if an agent is earning a 2.5 percent commission on a typical sale, they’re earning about $10,480 per transaction. In order to earn the same amount as selling 21,208 8-balls of cocaine, Nalbandian would have to sell a little over 606 homes.
In this market, it appears that Nalbandian thought the cocaine was a surer bet — albeit a more risky one.
Judge Dyer confirmed in court with prosecutors, a public defender and court officers that Nalbandian had never been arrested before and that the state was not attempting to detain him. She released him to await trial on charges of trafficking a controlled substance.
But before she let Nalbandian go, Judge Dyer gave him a stern warning.
“So I’m just telling you, you can mess around and go back to California and think it’s not just going to away,” the judge said. “So it would behoove you to get to all of your court dates. For this class of offense, if you fail to come to court, I’m certain we would come and get you and assist you back here. Just so you know.”
Correction: The number of homes someone would need to sell at a roughly 2.5 percent commission on a $419,200 home to meet a profit of $6.36 million would be over 606 homes. A math error in a previous version of this story stated that only 21 homes would need to be sold to meet the same profit as selling the amount of cocaine Nalbandian had in his possession.
