From: The Examiner

By Jeff Fox

Independence, Mo.

A contraband cigarette case with ties to Independence has resulted in a $1 million fine and other sanctions in New York.

In February, A.J.’s Wholesale LLC of Irving, N.Y., pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and traffic in contraband cigarettes. The company admitted ordering contraband cigarettes and causing them to be transported to New York, knowing that the $4.35-per-pack excise tax would not be paid, a violation of state and federal law.]

On Friday, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri announced that U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes has ordered AJ’s to pay a $1 million fine, forfeit the proceeds of the offense – $221,550 – and pay $535 million in restitution to the state of New York.

Last August, 17 people in eight states and two countries were indicted in what federal authorities describe as a conspiracy to sell hundreds of thousands of cartons of cigarettes on which excise taxes had not been paid.

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