WASHINGTON: A judge sentenced a northern Virginia man to five years in federal prison for trafficking $13 million in cigarettes out of the commonwealth, including through an elaborate scheme captured on camera by the News4 I-Team.
Stephen Chen, a Fredericksburg small business owner, admitted making bulk purchases of tobacco from big box warehouse stores, then reselling the cigarettes illegally to accomplices for profit.
Va. Crime Panel to Study Cigarette Smuggling
Those cigarettes were later trafficked to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to be illegally sold again, according to federal prosecutors.
Chen pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge in connection with his cigarette-smuggling operation.
