Five New York men have been convicted of trafficking in untaxed cigarettes in order to get money for jihad. From AP, .
Five men were convicted of federal charges for their role in a multi-state ring trafficking in untaxed cigarettes. U.S. Attorney Michael Battle says the men were found guilty Wednesday after a three-and-a-half week trial before Chief District Judge Richard Arcara in Buffalo and five days of jury deliberations.
Convicted were 54-year-old Mohamed Abuhamra of Lackawanna; 27-year-old Aref Ahmed of Niagara Falls; 52-year-old Rmzy Abdullah of Buffalo; 31-year-old Nagib Aziz of Cheektowaga; and 36-year-old Azzeaz Saleh of Dearborn, Michigan. They were found guilty of money laundering and trafficking in untaxed cigarettes.
They could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of at least $500,000 or both. The men were accused in a massive scheme that used an Indian reservation smoke shop to put millions of dollars of untaxed cigarettes for sale on the black market in Michigan and New York.
Prosecutors say Ahmed provided about $14,000 to five of the so-called Lackawanna Six so they could travel to Afghanistan and train at an al-Qaeda terrorist training camp.