California cigarette smuggler pleads guilty

The Justice Department said a Los Angeles man pleaded guilty this week to illegally importing thousands of cartons of Chinese cigarettes into the United States.    The Justice Department said a Los Angeles man pleaded guilty this week to illegally importing tobacco products from China into the United States.
   Zhi Xiong Chen admitted in court that for about five years, despite not holding a permit to import tobacco products, he used several addresses to receive 15,128 cartons of Chinese-brand cigarettes. During this time, Customs and Border Protection officers also seized 9,824 cartons of Chinese-brand cigarettes at international mail facilities in California and New York.
   According to the Justice Department, Chen admitted that he sought to evade paying more than $467,000 in federal and state excise taxes on the illegally imported cigarettes.
   Sentencing is scheduled for April 17. Chen faces up to five years in prison, along with a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.