Press Release
Georgia man sentenced for cigarette smuggling charge
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of West Virginia
MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Sukhdev Singh Virdi, of Dacula, Georgia, was sentenced today to three years probation for unlawful cigarette smuggling, First Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard announced today.
Virdi, age 46, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Traffic in Untaxed Cigarettes” in June 2017. Virdi admitted to conspiring to profit from the unlawful sale of contraband cigarettes.
Virdi was the store manager of American Cigarette Outlet, Inc., in Clearbrook, Virginia, which did business as Virginia Cigarette Outlet and Clearbrook Cigarettes and. He admitted to transporting large quantities of cigarettes across state lines for redistribution and sale. The cigarettes were acquired in Virginia, where the tax rate for cigarettes is one of the lowest in the nation, and sold in other states, including New York, which has one of the nation’s highest tax rates. The cigarettes were possessed and transported in West Virginia.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Stein prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. Homeland Security Investigations, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Frederick County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office, the West Virginia State Police, and the New York City Sheriff’s Office investigated.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Updated August 21, 2018
Topic
Tax
Component