Contraband, Canada, and Caught for an International Money Laundering Conspiracy: North Carolina Men Will Serve Prison Sentences
On December 4, 2024, Jeffrey Doctor (age 52, from Charlotte, North Carolina) and Samuel Baker (age 46, from Laurinburg, North Carolina) were sentenced in connection with a scheme to smuggle cut rag tobacco into Canada from the United States. Cut rag tobacco refers to tobacco plants that are chopped into thin strips and sourced to make smoking tobacco. Doctor was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Baker was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Doctor and Baker previously pled guilty, both admitting that they worked with co-conspirators from 2013 to 2016 to acquire cut rag tobacco and smuggle it into Canada. There, the materials were made into contraband cigarettes. The co-conspirators sold the contraband cigarettes and raked in profits while avoiding taxes and duties. They used a portion of their profits to buy more cut rag tobacco, send it into Canada, and continue the scheme.
Money to purchase the cut rag tobacco was sent from Canada, through the Northern District of New York, and arrived in North Carolina. After purchasing the cut rag tobacco, it was delivered to stores and buildings around the Northeastern United States. Co-conspirators delivered to locations including the St. Regis Mohawk Akwesasne Reservation where the product was staged to smuggle into Canada.
Baker admitted to laundering over $19 million in connection with the scheme He previously agreed to an administrative forfeiture of $738,442 from the crime and was also fined $100,000.
Doctor confessed that he obtained over $503,850.66 in unrecovered proceeds and has agreed to forfeit that amount as a money judgment.
Senior United States District Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. imposed a post-imprisonment supervised release for each defendant for 2 years.
Edgar M. Baker (age 51 from Southern Pines, North Carolina) was also sentenced on December 4 to three years of probation and a $75,000 fine. This follows his prior guilty plea to misprision of a felony and failing to report the conspiracy to authorities once he learned about it.
Carey Terrance, a co-conspirator involved in the scheme, was previously sentenced to prison time and ordered to pay a $350,000 fine.
If you would like more information on what it means to be a whistleblower or think you may have information relating to a money laundering scheme, tax avoidance scheme, or customs fraud, please feel free to contact us so we can connect you with a member of the Constantine Cannon whistleblower lawyer team for a free and confidential consultation.
Tagged in: Customs Fraud, Money Laundering, Tax Fraud,