Cigarette smuggler sentenced

By Nick Gale, WLS News

(CHICAGO) A 51-year-old Chicago man has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to felony cigarette smuggling.

Listen to Nick Gale’s report:

Prosecutors say Lemont Baggett was arrested in Champaign County in August 2013 with almost 3,900 packages of cigarettes with tax stamps from Missouri.

If that wasn’t enough of a lesson – Baggett, while out on bond, was subsequently stopped in Cook County in December 2013 and found to be in possession of 315 packs of cigarettes.  Baggett pleaded guilty to the Champaign case as a resolution to both cases.

The director of the Illinois Department of Revenue says her office remains vigilant in efforts to prevent black market cigarettes from making their way to consumers.

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