From: The Dispatch
SNOW HILL — A handful of defendants arrested in April for the illegal transportation of untaxed cigarettes during a Maryland Comptroller’s Office sting operation in Worcester appeared in court this week for trials and each received suspended jail time sentences but were hit with exorbitant fines.
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Among those arrested was Hassan Ali Ghamlouch, 27, of Jersey City, N.J. On April 15, agents seized 6,680 packs of contraband cigarettes and a 2011 GMC Denali during a stop on Route 13 in Pocomoke. The confiscated cigarettes were worth $43,086. On Tuesday, Ghamlouch was sentenced to 30 days in jail, all of which was suspended. He was placed on probation for two years and fined $100,300, all but $5,000 of which was suspended.
Also arrested during the sting was Mohammed Ali Mohsin Elroubat, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y. On April 18, agents seized 4,480 packs of cigarettes and a 2013 Volkswagen Passat during a traffic stop at Routes 12 and 113 in Snow Hill. On Tuesday, Elroubat was sentenced to 15 days, which was suspended. He was placed on probation for two years and fined $67,200, of which $63,700 was suspended.
