From: FindLaw
United States Court of Appeals,Fourth Circuit.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Nawaf M. HASAN, Defendant–Appellant.
No. 12–4442.
Decided: June 6, 2013
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Nawaf Hasan was convicted of various offenses related to the trafficking of contraband cigarettes. Hasan challenges his convictions on the basis that the conduct of the government agents investigating this case was so outrageous as to violate his due process rights. Separately, Hasan argues that the district court applied the wrong statutory rule to calculate the amount of the civil forfeiture adjudicated against him. For the reasons explained herein, we reject both challenges and affirm the judgment of the district court in its entirety.
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Once again, however, Hasan fails to recognize that contraband cigarettes, as defined by statute, are inherently unlawful goods. The district court’s statement, that cigarettes are otherwise lawful (i.e., when they are properly taxed) is correct, but the cigarettes to which the court referred were not contraband cigarettes.
We therefore conclude that the district court properly calculated the order of forfeiture in this case.10
III.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
