December 23, 2016

The last defendant in a domestic and international, multimillion-dollar cigarette tax fraud scheme has been sentenced, the Department of Justice announced. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning sentenced Anthony Cosica, 54, of Pinetop, Ariz., to 24 months in federal prison. Eight other defendants, including three from eastern Kentucky and two from Russia, have already been sentenced, for charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering and violations of the PACT Act. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from 2008 to 2013, the defendants devised a scheme that defrauded federal, state and local governments across the country, out of cigarette excise taxes totaling approximately $48 million. Specifically, the defendants operated mail order and internet businesses engaged in the delivery sales of untaxed cigarettes to customers in all 50 states. DOJ

Tagged in: Tax Fraud,