From: Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond-area couple convicted of illegally structuring more than $10 million in bank deposits to conceal involvement in illegal cigarette trafficking were sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison.
Defense attorneys asked for even lighter sentences for Jayant and Loveleen Khare of Powhatan County. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson shaved a year and five months off the terms recommended by prosecutors but declined to go any lower because of the enormous proceeds and lengthy duration of the couple’s smuggling scheme.
“This scheme was spread over 12 to 14 months,” Hudson said. “It was not one or two isolated incidents.”
Federal law requires banks to report transactions of more than $10,000 to the U.S. Treasury Department. The Khares, owners of Cigarettes America at Westchester and Cigarettes America Plus in suburban Richmond, admitted dividing the massive profits of illicit cigarette sales into multiple deposits of less than $10,000 to evade the reporting requirement.
Hudson noted that cigarette smuggling “also is a serious offense and a major problem in the commonwealth.” However, court papers show the government agreed not to prosecute the Khares for cigarette trafficking in exchange for their guilty pleas to the illegal structuring charge.
The growing problem of cigarette trafficking has drawn the attention of the Virginia State Crime Commission and the General Assembly, which last winter passed bills intended to crack down on the crime. State officials have said that cigarette smugglers can make more money than narcotics dealers by purchasing huge quantities of cigarettes in Virginia, which has the nation’s second-lowest tobacco tax at 30 cents a pack, and reselling them in higher-tax states in the Northeast.
An affidavit filed by a federal investigator said that on July 10, 2012, state and federal authorities conducting surveillance saw Loveleen Khare purchase about 1,200 cartons of cigarettes from a Costco store. After closing her store later that day, she drove home and unloaded several boxes from her van into her garage. Two men later were seen loading boxes from the garage into a white cargo van, which later was stopped by Maryland state troopers. They found 2,538 cartons of cigarettes in the van.
Court papers also said that the Khares routinely visited branches of a half-dozen banks and made cash deposits of $9,900 or less.
Loveleen Khare’s attorney, William Dinkin, said it clearly was not a sophisticated scheme.
“The way this happened, she might as well have put a placard around her neck saying, ‘Structuring,’” Dinkin said.
He asked the judge to impose a period of home confinement for Loveleen Khare. Dinkin also read a written statement from his client, who apologized and said she was “determined to pursue the righteous way of life from now on.”
Hudson called Loveleen Khare “a fundamentally good person who used bad judgment” but said he could not overlook the seriousness of the offense.
The judge reached a similar conclusion for Jayant Khare, whose attorney suggested in court papers that an 18-month sentence would be sufficient.
“He’s filled with shame,” defense attorney David Morgan said.
Khare also apologized for his crime.
