From: The Journal
, Journal News
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Mohamed A. Elbarati, 30, of Winchester, Virginia; Farouk M. Aldaylam, 29, Fahd H. Aljahaf, 38, Galal H. Kassim, 30, and Muneer K. Khaled, 26, all of New York, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Robert Tumble to conspiracy to smuggle contraband cigarettes. Each man faces up to five years in prison and and $250,000 in fines by federal law.
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Ihlenfeld would not elaborate as to whether or not this conspiracy laundered money into a “criminal organization” or what the nature of such “criminal organizations” are. However, in past cases, authorities have linked funds from cigarette smugglers to terrorist groups, according to an ATF fact sheet.
