From: WTVA.com
OXFORD, Miss. (WTVA) _ A South Carolina man has pleaded guilty to a three county indictment involving a counterfeit cigarette investigation with ties to Tupelo.
Fred Brackett entered the plea in U.S. District Court on Thursday.
He pleaded guilty to defrauding the government, lying to investigators, and profiting from illegal activity.
Bracket is accused of buying nearly 188,000 packs of cigarettes, then under reporting the amount of cigarettes he purchased in South Carolina to avoid paying tobacco taxes.
Federal authorities says Jerry Burke and Randy Benham, who operated the Globe Warehouse in Tupelo and Globe Enterprises, would lie about the cigarettes being sold in Mississippi.
Brackett will be sentenced at a later date.
