Hogansburg Man Pleads Guilty to International Money Laundering Conspiracy

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Carey Terrance Sr., age 42, of Hogansburg, New York, pled guilty on July 31 to conspiring to launder money in connection with a scheme to smuggle cut rag tobacco into Canada from the United States.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), New York Field Division, made the announcement.

 In pleading guilty, Terrance Sr. admitted that from approximately 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, 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.

 Funds to purchase the cut rag tobacco were sent from Canada, often through the Northern District of New York, to North Carolina.  Once purchased, the cut rag tobacco was delivered to warehouses and buildings in the Northeastern United States, including on the St. Regis Mohawk Akwesasne Reservation, where it was staged for smuggling into Canada. Terrance admitted that he laundered $221,860.20 as part of the scheme; he agreed to forfeit that amount as part of the guilty plea.

Two other co-conspirators, Samuel C. Baker, age 45, of Laurinburg, North Carolina, and Jeffrey Doctor, age 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 3 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

A charge remains pending against Edgar M. Baker, Jr. and a trial is currently scheduled for September 27, 2023.  The charge in the indictment against Baker is merely an accusation.  He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

HSI and IRS-CI are investigating this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allen J. Vickey and Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping are prosecuting this case.