From: Sentinel
EDISON — A man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a cigarette heist that took place in a trucking facility in Edison almost four years ago.
Augustine “Augie” Guido, 73, of Staten Island, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit the cargo theft during a hearing in Newark federal court on Feb. 18. The theft involved a trailer containing 270 cases of counterfeit cigarettes in July 2010, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
The case began on Jan. 27, 2010, when a witness — who was assisting federal agents by providing information about members and associates of La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia — and Guido engaged in a consensually recorded conversation during a funeral, according to a press release from Fishman. Guido asked the witness if he knew of any warehouses they could rob, particularly ones with perfume, cigarettes and pharmaceuticals.
The witness was participating in an FBI sting operation in which Guido and others conspired to steal a tractor-trailer with 270 cases of counterfeit Pall Mall and Lucky 7 cigarettes, which were placed in the back of a tractor-trailer at a locked trucking facility in Edison, according to the press release.
