WORCESTER — Men from Shrewsbury and Holden were sentenced to probation on charges related to a lucrative smokeless tobacco scheme.
In a significant blow to contraband tobacco trafficking, Mohammad Hanif Balaparya, 63, of Shrewsbury, and Rakesh Garg, 53, of Holden, were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman in Worcester to 3 years of probation and Garg to 2 years, following their October 2023 guilty pleas.
The duo admitted to conspiring to transport, possess, purchase, and distribute more than 500 units of contraband smokeless tobacco across state lines. Balaparya faced additional charges for the transportation and possession of the illicit goods.
Their operation, running throughout 2017, involved Balaparya renting commercial box trucks to purchase large quantities of smokeless tobacco in Bensalem, Pa., with funds provided by both defendants. The contraband was then sold to certain Mass. convenience store owners, circumventing over $2.3 million in state excise taxes, with an additional $1 million evaded on cigars and other smoking products.
Authorities uncovered the scheme in December 2017, seizing contraband tobacco and approximately $140,000 in unlawful proceeds from the defendants’ properties. The court has ordered the forfeiture of these funds, with a subsequent hearing scheduled to determine further restitution and forfeiture measures.
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