A Mississippi man has pleaded guilty to for trafficking in contraband cigarettes after purchasing more than 75,000 cigarettes and cigarillos without paying Mississippi’s cigarette tax.

Sadeq Saif Farea (also known as Sadeq Saif Qaid Farea) 43, of Gulfport pleaded guilty  in federal court, according to a news release from Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jack Staton of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.

Farea knowingly purchased for resale 42,000 cigarettes and 36,000 cigarillos, which bore no evidence of the payment of cigarette taxes in the State of Mississippi, constituting contraband cigarettes, according to court documents.

Farea is scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2021, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones is prosecuting the case.