Arrest by RISP leads to guilty plea

PROVIDENCE, RI (WPRI) - The Syrian national arrested by Rhode Island State Police in November has pleaded guilty to importing and selling millions of contraband cigarettes.

Mohamad Mohamad, 35, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, admitted in federal court Thursday to depriving Rhode Island of an estimated $506,000 in cigarette tax revenue.

The cigarettes lacked required Rhode Island tax stamps.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Rhode Island, Mohamad traveled regularly to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to purchase large quantities of cigarettes from retailers and wholesalers for resale to convenience stores and independent salespersons in Rhode Island.

Mohamad was not licensed to sell cigarettes in Rhode Island.

Mohamad, along with three others were arrested following a joint investigation by Immigration and Custom Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Rhode Island State Police.

Other law enforcement agencies from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, the Internal Revenue Service, Warwick Police, Massachusetts State Police and Cambridge, MA Police also assisted during the investigation.