KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a daring move to combat cigarette trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri announced today that three Canadian men, Mark Bishop, 42, Piotr Hoffmann, 43, and David Bishop, 46, have pleaded guilty to their roles in a $17 million scheme to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they were sold primarily on Indian reservations.
David Bishop, the mastermind behind the operation, pleaded guilty on June 7, 2017, to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking. He admitted that he owned and operated DKB Trade Concepts, a Canadian corporation located in Montréal, and aided and abetted in the sale, possession, transportation, and reception of contraband cigarettes from July 2010 to January 2012.
Mark Bishop and Hoffman admitted to transporting contraband cigarettes, with Hoffman being paid $11,000, which he must forfeit to the government. Mark Bishop did not receive any substantial financial benefit or payments for his participation in the conspiracy.
The scheme involved purchasing more than $17 million worth of contraband cigarettes from ATF agents during an undercover operation. Approximately 620,600 cartons of cigarettes – containing 10 packs per carton – were transported to New York without paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The untaxed cigarettes were sold by New York retailers and smoke shops on the reservations in the state of New York, resulting in a total state excise tax loss of more than $8 million.
The conspirators, including the three Canadian men, received commissions or “brokerage fees” for coordinating contraband cigarette orders between co-defendant Craig Sheffler of Independence, Mo., the owner of Cheap Tobacco Wholesale, and Gholamreza Tadaiyon of Weston, Fla.
David and Mark Bishop and Hoffman are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, with substantial assistance provided by the Office of International Affairs, investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and Justin G. Davids.
Related Federal Cases
- Mark Bishop, Aiding Contraband Cigarette Trafficking, MO · Washington
- Harry Najim Pleads Guilty to Cigarette Smuggling, Kansas City MO, 2023 · Washington
- Anthony D. Harris, Drug Trafficking, Kansas City, Mo., 2023 · Missouri
- Jimmie R. Lewis, Jr. Charged with Methamphetamine Trafficking, Kansas City MO, 2021 · Missouri
- Wilds, Conspiracy, Mail and Wire Fraud, Missouri 2024 · Missouri
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: Drug Trafficking|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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