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Counterfeit Cigarette Smuggler Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison
A Chinese national has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for importing counterfeit tobacco products into the United States.
Lin Xiao Wei, 33, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on February 1, 2013, to one count of causing the sale of counterfeit tobacco products.
Wei’s crimes began in February 2012 when he arranged for the shipment of a 20-foot cargo container containing counterfeit Marlboro cigarettes from China to the United States.
The cargo container, which shipping documentation claimed contained 696 cartons of leather products, was shipped from a port in China on March 27, 2012. However, upon arrival in Miami on April 27, 2012, FDA-OCI and Homeland Security Investigations agents seized the container.
Wei’s scheme was uncovered after he met with a confidential informant at a Miami hotel on June 3, 2012, to discuss the shipment of the fraudulent tobacco products.
Wei’s sentencing was commended by Peter F. Neronha, United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, and Mark Dragonetti, Special Agent in Charge of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard B. Myrus and Adi Goldstein. U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith imposed the 16-month sentence.
The sentence brings to an end a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving the FDA-OCI Rhode Island Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Rhode Island State Police, East Providence Police and North Providence Police.
A glossary of federal judicial terms and procedures is now available at http://www.justice.gov/usao/justice101/
Contact: 401-709-5357, USARI.Media@usdoj.gov
Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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