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Hezbollah donor to be resentenced  

A man convicted of providing money to an Islamic terrorist organization returns to a federal courtroom Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C., for resentencing.

Mohamad Hammoud's sentence of 155 years in prison for providing material support for Hezbollah was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court because the sentence exceeded "the maximum sentence authorized by the jury verdict alone," CNN reported. . . .

Prosecutors argued Hammoud provided cigarette-smuggling proceeds to Hezbollah. During the trial, Hammoud admitted to immigration fraud and cigarette smuggling, but testified he was not a member of Hezbollah.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/26/Hezbollah-donor-to-be-resentenced/UPI-38461296055368/#ixzz1CBFGUMAd

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Terror Supporter in US Case Appeals 'Harsh' Sentence  

Mohammed Hammoud, the first person convicted on an anti-terror statute aimed at preventing American funding of terror groups, will be in court Wednesday seeking to get out of jail after serving 10 years of a 155-year sentence.

Hammoud was convicted in 2002 of fraud, racketeering, and helping to raise money for the Hizbullah terrorist group by running an illegal smuggling and money laundering scheme. He was also convicted of violating federal racketeering laws.

In all, Hammoud and his brother Chawki smuggled some $8 million of cigarettes for which they failed to pay the appropriate taxes. Altogether, 18 people were arrested in the case, including Hammoud's wife, who pleaded guilty on the smuggling charges.

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• US man convicted of supporting Hezbollah seeks freedom from 155-year prison sentence 

The first person convicted of a terrorism-related charge that's become a go-to tactic for prosecutors believes he should be released from prison after just a decade of his 155-year sentence because his original punishment was too harsh.

In 2002, Mohamad Hammoud was found guilty of raising money for the militant group Hezbollah under a law prohibiting aid to designated terrorist groups. But he has been awaiting a new judgment since the 2005 Supreme Court ruling that determined that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory.

A re-sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. . . .

Providing material support for terrorism carries a maximum penalty of 15 years. Along with that charge, Hammoud's sentence was compounded with convictions for a variety of other crimes including cigarette smuggling, credit card fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Prosecutors contend Hammoud was the leader of a Hezbollah cell who raised money by sending cheap North Carolina cigarettes to Michigan, where they were resold on the black market without including the state's higher taxes. The government says some of the profits were directed to Hezbollah.

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• Terrorism and Tobacco--How Cigarette Smuggling Finances Jihad and Insurgency Worldwide  

Smugglers take the same routes today — driving SUVs along paved roads or with guidance from the Tuareg and satellite phones — to move weapons, drugs, and, increasingly, humans — through the Sahara for transport across the Mediterranean Sea. The paths are no longer known as the Salt Roads of the Tuareg, but as the “Marlboro Connection,” named after the most lucrative contraband along this 2,000-mile corridor.

Among those who control this underground trade is al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Algeria-based terrorist organization widely believed to have been backed by Osama Bin Laden. Descended from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (known by its French acronym, GSPC) the group has hundreds of members and is blamed for a bloody campaign of bombings, murders, and kidnappings across North Africa and Europe. The lead smuggler, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, 37, is blamed for the 2003 kidnappings of 32 European tourists and the 2006 murder of 13 Algerian customs officials. “They are a significant threat,” says Lorenzo Vidino, author of Al Qaeda in Europe. “Of all Islamic terrorist groups, they have the most extensive and sophisticated network in Europe… And among their activities, smuggling is particularly important.”

Military officials and scholars say cigarette smuggling, in fact, has provided the bulk of financing for AQIM. The money comes not directly from smuggling, but from charging protection fees to others moving the untaxed cigarettes through the Sahara. The most smuggled brand is Marlboro, followed by Gauloises and American Legend, as well as counterfeited Rym, a popular Algerian brand. . . .

Hezbollah, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda are involved in smuggling cigarettes; so are the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Terrorist financing through cigarette smuggling is “huge,” says Louise Shelley, a transnational crime expert at George Mason University and an adviser to the World Economic Forum on illicit trade. “Worldwide — it’s no exaggeration… No one thinks cigarette smuggling is too serious, so law enforcement doesn’t spend resources to go after it.”

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• Detroit-area man guilty in cigarette scheme 

Nearly five years after filing charges against 19 people, federal prosecutors got another conviction Monday in a multimillion-dollar scheme to sell illegal cigarettes, counterfeit Viagra and other goods.

The enterprise had international intrigue. The government claims all had allegiance to Hezbollah, and some money was given to the militant Lebanese group.

Fadi Hammoud, 36, of Dearborn pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering. His conviction is the eighth in the case. Nine of the 19 people have fled to Canada, Lebanon or Kuwait.

"You understand this is a serious crime," U.S. Chief District Judge Gerald Rosen said.

Hammoud, working with two brothers and an uncle, distributed the cigarettes in Michigan and had his own smoke shop. He's described as a minor participant and likely faces 15 months to 21 months in prison. The government says the cigarette trafficking lasted from 1996 to 2002. Cigarettes worth up to $500,000 were acquired each week in states with low or no tobacco taxes and then distributed in Michigan and New York. One source was the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation near Irving, N.Y. . . .

Some defense lawyers have objected to the reference to Hezbollah in the indictment

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• NEWS: CIGARETTE TAXES UP, SMUGGLING UP 

"Higher cigarette taxes will help curb smoking and its deadly consequences. But little revenue is expected to be seen at the City or State level. Instead they will create a greater incentive for smugglers to use black market sales to fund terrorism. As we create disincentives for New Yorkers to start and continue smoking, we also need a renewed crackdown on smuggled cigarettes. We cannot ease a major health crisis by helping fund terrorism." . . .

Rep. Weiner is the author of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) legislation, which increases penalties for individuals smuggling cigarettes and provides law enforcement with new tools to go after black market sales.

Rep. Weiner’s new tobacco bill comes just weeks after law enforcement seized six million dollars worth of counterfeit tax stamps and arrested a Jordanian man as part of a major sting. According to a recent Government Office of Accountability (GAO) report, Hezbollah profited $1.5 million from the sale of illegal tobacco from 1996-2000.

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Report: Cigarette smuggling costs state millions  

A congressional report being released today charges that New York State loses millions of dollars a year in unpaid sales taxes on smuggled cigarettes.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) called for an investigation and hearings into the lost revenue - money that King says in past cases has been funneled by smugglers to terror groups overseas.

King, who requested the report by the Republican staff of the House Homeland Security Committee, faults New York State government for not enforcing its own cigarette tax laws, particularly on Indian reservations - reporting that the state lost as much as $576 million in 2004 alone including from purchases on reservations.

"We've been talking to state investigators and law enforcement ... and there's definitely a nexus between the cigarette sales and the terrorist organizations,"

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• Tobacco and Terror (PDF) 

Prepared by the Republican Staff of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Ranking Member
. . .

Recent law enforcement investigations, however, have directly linked those involved in illicit tobacco trade to infamous terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and al Qaeda.1

These startling discoveries led U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member Peter T. King (R-NY) to launch an investigation of the issue. The following staff report--which will focus on the estimated millions of dollars in illicit tobacco profits being funneled to terrorist groups overseas as well as New York State's refusal to enforce tobacco laws--is the result of numerous interviews with law enforcement officials at the local, State, and Federal level, as well as open-source research. . . .

Conclusion

Experts have long acknowledged that terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah "depend on a wide variety of criminal enterprises, ranging from smuggling to fraud to drug trade to diamond trade in regions across the world,"" including the United States. Terrorist organizations rely heavily on their global web of illicit enterprises to financially support their recruiting, training, arming, and operational objectives. As law enforcement agencies continue to combat terrorist and criminal fundraising schemes, these criminal groups will continue to adapt and exploit emerging vulnerabilities. The ability of these groups to engage in low-risk, cash-based schemes such as cigarette smuggling are critical to the continuation of their operations. The more than $50,000 in profits that smuggling rings can generate from one contraband load (1,500 cartons) is enough to fund as many as 10 USS Cole bombing operations. In just two months of illicit cigarette trade operations, a motivated terrorist cell could generate sufficient funds to carry out another September 11th style attack, in which operational costs were estimated to be $500,000.38

Law enforcement agencies face a daunting task of keeping up with these ever-changing criminal schemes. Simply put, they need more help from State and Federal governments. The last few years have seen a boom in cigarette smuggling around the world and here in the United States; and, thanks to its policy of forbearance, New York State is doing more to facilitate this trade than any other State in the union. On June 3, 2008, New York State taxes on cigarettes are set to increase by another $12.50 per carton. This will only serve to increase the demand for illicitly smuggled cigarettes and inflate the profit margin of these smuggling networks.

This must be brought to an end. It is more than just a matter of hundreds of millions in lost tax revenue-it is a matter of national security.

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• NEW COURT DECISION ON ILLEGAL CIGARETTES SHOWS NEED FOR STRONGER FEDERAL LAWS 

Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn & Queens) a member of the House Judiciary Committee renewed his call for stronger federal laws to curb the widespread illegal sale of tobacco after a federal judge dismissed all but one count in a lawsuit filed against Indian reservations who sell tax-free cigarettes. The court decision in Brooklyn dismissed the claim that the illegal cigarettes "created, fostered, and nourished a thriving black market," even though the selling of illegal cigarettes is a technique used by terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah to finance their activities. According to a recent Government Office of Accountability (GAO) report, Hezbollah profited $1.5 million from the sale of illegal tobacco from 1996-2000. Weiner has requested Congressional hearings to examine this national security issue. . . .

Reports of tobacco smuggling by individuals with ties to terrorist organizations include:

· June 21, 2002: A federal jury in North Carolina finds Mohamad Hammoud guilty of cigarette smuggling, racketeering, and money laundering. Hammoud and his brother smuggled $7.9 million worth of cigarettes from North Carolina to Michigan. Together they steered profits from their multimillion dollar cigarette smuggling operation to Hezbollah.

--May 1, 2003: 10 men of Middle Eastern descent are arrested in New York and Virginia for possession of 71, 467 cartons valued over $2.2 million, wire fraud and money laundering. Federal government opens investigation into suspected ties with Hezbollah . . .

"We must crack down on the illegal sale of tobacco which gives terrorists and criminals the ability to raise more money," said Rep. Weiner.

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• Bill would stamp out Internet cigarette sales, sez Weiner 

Rep. Anthony Weiner wants to snuff out illegal on-line cigarette sales by making them a felony and by banning the delivery of cigarettes through the mail.

Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) said his goal is to cut down on tax-free Internet sales - which cost the city some $40 million a year in lost revenue and have been linked to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

A recent federal study found that Hezbollah raised $1.5 million from illegal cigarette sales from 1996 to 2000.

Weiner's bill, which will be introduced tomorrow, comes on the heels of a similar U.S. Senate bill, introduced in March.

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• GOLDEN: INDIAN BUTTS: TERROR'S TAKE 

A senior intelligence analyst with ATF, William Billingslea, wrote in Police Chief Magazine that "Because of the immense profit in the . . . trade, illicit cigarette trafficking now rivals drug trafficking as the method of choice to fill the bank accounts of terrorists and terrorist groups."

In New York, state tax agents have joined with the state Tax Department to establish the "First Alert Program," which has produced many of the leads resulting in arrests - including a Brooklyn husband and wife who smuggled cigarettes to fund the anti-American activities of a group of 200 terrorists.

Another part of the problem is Native American reservations across the state that insist their sovereignty gives them the right to sell tax-free cigarettes even to non-tribal members.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that New York was within its constitutional right to tax those sales (tribe members can still escape the tax). But the state has refused to enforce the law. . . .

Both federal and state laws are already in place, and the courts have reaffirmed their constitutionality. What we need now is a governor with the guts to enforce them. The result of not enforcing the law has transcended the issue of Native American sovereignty into an issue of national security.

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• Cigarette smuggling costs state $20M  

Sales of illegal cigarettes cost the state an estimated $20 million a year in lost tax revenue, and the problem has been linked in other parts of the country to such organizations as al-Qaida and Hezbollah, experts say.

The lucrative business can bring smugglers $60,000 profit per truckload, with criminals in some cases using fake tax stamps to avoid having to pay taxes on their loot, the experts told a Georgia Senate panel Thursday.

Although Georgia isn't considered one of the top states for cigarette smuggling, "It would be ridiculous to say you don't have a problem," said Robert Shepherd, an ex-policeman and prosecutor who fought smuggling in New York.

The Senate committee is studying the problem and considering ways to fight it . . .

last year, when 18 people were charged in a smuggling conspiracy that prosecutors said raised money for Hezbollah.

"The enterprise operated from Lebanon, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, China, North Carolina, Florida and the Dearborn, Mich., area, perpetrating crimes in the states of Michigan, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, West Virginia and points in between," the indictment alleged.

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• for hezbollah: cheap smokes, fake viagra 

They are accused of trying to fund terror through the sale of cheap cigarettes and fake Viagra pills.

U.S. law enforcement agencies in Michigan allege five Canadian men -- three from Windsor, Ont., and two from Montreal -- were clandestinely shipping tax-free cigarettes, rolling papers and fake Viagra across borders to sell and raise millions for Hezbollah, the Lebanese extremist group with terrorist ties.

Windsor cabbie Karim Hassan Nasser has pleaded guilty to playing a role in the scheme between 1998 and 2001 and is awaiting sentencing. . . .

According to U.S. court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun, portions of the $500,000-a-month operation were given to Hezbollah. Some members of the enterprise charged a "resistance tax," a set amount over black-market price per carton of contraband cigarettes, which their customers were told would be going to militant organizations.

Some members of the enterprise also solicited money from cigarette customers for the "orphans of martyrs" program run by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon to support the families of so-called suicide martyrs.

The Hezbollah supporters are not the only Canadians on the run from U.S. authorities in a terrorist financing case.

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LOVELACE: Raising cigarette tax is common-sense public policy 

While being a step in the right direction, Gov. Mark Sanford's proposal for a token increase in South Carolina's cigarette tax is a dollar short and a day late. In the halls of government there is a sore lack of understanding of health care in general and a gross underestimation of the impact of our state having the lowest cigarette tax in the nation.

The governor's proposal to raise the cigarette tax to 37 cents is more than a dollar short of the $1.41 state tax per pack recently passed by President Bush's home state of Texas. The national average state cigarette tax is now a dollar.

In our state, the smoking-caused health-care costs for Medicaid and Medicare are about $7 per pack of cigarettes sold. . . .

Why would our governor propose a 30-cent remedy to a $6.50 problem? . . .

In 2002, a terrorist cell in North Carolina was convicted of selling $7.9 million of cheap N.C. cigarettes in Michigan by the tractor-trailer load -- raising millions of dollars for the Hezbollah militia. . . .

Increasing our cigarette tax, at least to the national average, is common-sense public policy. It is the most effective deterrent to youth smoking, it reduces health-care costs and it saves lives here and abroad while generating revenue for our failing health-care delivery system. A 2006 voter survey showed that over 70 percent of S.C. voters are in favor of a dollar tax on each pack of cigarettes. As our legislative year begins, let your voice be heard.

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• LOVELACE: Too-low cigarette tax has wide-ranging effects 

In our state, the smoking-caused health care costs for Medicaid and Medicare are about $7 per pack of cigarettes sold. The federal tax on a pack of cigarettes is 39 cents, and our current state tax is just 7 cents. So for each pack sold we are presently getting 46 cents to fund the $7 of taxpayer expense for smoking-caused Medicaid and Medicare costs. Why would our governor propose a 30-cent remedy to a $6.50 problem? To say he is a dollar short is an understatement. Remember the figure above does not include the smoking-related health care costs of the uninsured. The best way to get out of a hole is to stop digging.

South Carolina has not raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes since 1977. The governor's idea is not a day late - it is actually three decades late. We are paying dearly for our lack of action, abroad and at home.

In 2002, a terrorist cell in North Carolina was convicted of selling $7.9 million of cheap N.C. cigarettes in Michigan by the tractor-trailer load, raising millions of dollars for the Hezbollah militia. . . .

Increasing our cigarette tax, at least to the national average, is common sense public policy. It is the most effective deterrent to youth smoking, it reduces health care costs, and saves lives here and abroad while generating revenue for our failing health care delivery system. A 2006 voter survey showed that more than

70 percent of S.C. voters are in favor of a dollar tax on each pack of cigarettes. As our legislative year begins, let your voice be heard.

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