Hogansburg man pleads guilty to money laundering conspiracy

ALBANY, New York (WWNY) - A Hogansburg man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Albany to conspiring to launder money in connection with a scheme to smuggle tobacco into Canada from the United States.

In pleading guilty on July 31, 42-year-old Carey Terrance Sr. admitted that from 2013 to 2016 he worked with co-conspirators to acquire cut rag tobacco and smuggle it into Canada, where it was made into contraband cigarettes.

Members of the conspiracy sold the contraband cigarettes, federal officials say, making substantial profits by avoiding taxes and duties, and used some of their profits to buy more cut rag tobacco that they sent into Canada.

Officials say money to buy the tobacco was sent from Canada, often through the northern New York, to North Carolina. The tobacco was delivered to warehouses and buildings in the northeastern United States, including in Akwesasne, where it was staged for smuggling into Canada.

Terrance admitted that he laundered $221,860 as part of the scheme. He agreed to forfeit that amount as part of the guilty plea.

Two other co-conspirators, Samuel Baker, 45, of Laurinburg, North Carolina, and Jeffrey Doctor, 51, of Charlotte, North Carolina, have each also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and are awaiting sentencing.

Terrance, Doctor, and Baker each face a maximum term of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.

A charge remains pending against Edgar Baker Jr. of North Carolina and a trial is currently scheduled for September 27.