BOSTON - A Farmington, Conn. businessman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Springfield yesterday in connection with trafficking untaxed tobacco products.
Harbhajan Singh, 57, pleaded guilty to three counts of contraband smokeless tobacco trafficking. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Feb. 1, 2016.
In January 2012, Singh purchased a wholesale tobacco product business operating from a warehouse on East Columbus Avenue in Springfield. After the sale, Singh obtained smokeless tobacco and cigars from a Scranton, Pa. warehouse. Singh subsequently distributed smokeless tobacco without a license and by failing to pay any of the required tax. In June 2012, law enforcement officers executed numerous search warrants on the Springfield warehouse and various other locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. From January to June 2012, Singh evaded nearly $200,000 in tobacco taxes owed to the state of Massachusetts.
Each count provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
