Henderson County (Mar 5, 2023) - ASHEVILLE Two Polk County men were sentenced last week for violations of the Animal Welfare Act for engaging in dog fighting and related criminal conduct, Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced.
The court further ordered Gordon to pay restitution in the amount of $222,388. On the fraud count, Gordon was sentenced to 26 months in prison, and she received an additional 10 months’ incarceration on the related probation revocation for having engaged in the criminal conduct while on supervision.
Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Money Laundering in Tobacco Smuggling Scheme Published: 22 May 2021 22 May 2021
Charlotte, North Carolina - A North Carolina man was sentenced Thursday to 78 months in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering and filing a false tax return.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, Phil Howard, 55, arranged on at least 221 different occasions for cut-rag tobacco to be transported by trucks from Wilson, North Carolina, to an area on or near the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation Reservation (Akwesasne Reservation) as part of a conspiracy to smuggle the tobacco into Canada without paying Canadian federal excise duties and provincial taxes. The Akwesasne Reservation straddles the U.S.-Canadian border on both banks of the St. Lawrence River. Co-conspirators then smuggled the cut-rag tobacco over the St. Lawrence River and transported it to the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation Reservation in Quebec. Ultimately, the cut-rag tobacco was