Editor’s Note: For information on the links between the case below and domestic terrorism, see here.
From: The Talk of the Sound (New Rochelle)
NEW YORK, NY — Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the conviction of Basel Ramadan, the ring leader of a criminal enterprise that flooded New York City, Albany County and Schenectady County with more than a million cartons of untaxed cigarettes illegally imported from Virginia. Basel Ramadan, 44 of Maryland, was found guilty on 198 counts, including Enterprise Corruption, Money Laundering, and numerous tax crimes by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen A. Riveiezzo. The nearly 10-week bench trial, which included evidence from hundreds of wiretaps, yielded a verdict of guilty, and the defendant now faces up to 8 1/3 to 25 years on Enterprise Corruption alone, and faces up to 30 years in prison on call 198 counts combined.
“This individual led a criminal enterprise that stretched from Maryland to New York, flooded our state with millions of cheap cigarettes, and cheated New Yorkers out of tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “Not only did this enterprise put law-abiding businesses in New York at a competitive disadvantage, but it increased the possibility of violence that comes with any type of smuggling operation. I’m deeply gratified that justice has been served.”
