OXFORD — Two Kentucky men and a tobacco company have been indicted for their alleged involvement in the trafficking of contraband cigarettes. David Brian Cooper, 47, George Bertram, 53, both of Jamestown, Ky., and Tantus Tobacco Co of Russell Springs, Ky., pleaded not guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oxford. Trial is scheduled for [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: April 5,2013
Tags: appeal, bench, cigar, cigarette, court, decision, judicial, judiciary, justice, law, legal, pipe, retail, ruling, smoke, smoking, tax, tobacco
JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has sided with tobacco companies who argued that a state tax on cigarettes sold at retail outlets outside the state was unfair. Yesterday’s decision overturned a 2011 decision by a Hinds County judge who found the tax fair. However, the issue is moot because lawmakers repealed the tax in [...] [...]

by Stephen McDill Published: March 22,2013
Tags: cigar smokers, Country Squire Tobacconist, Easter Flood of 1979, Hayes Dent, JACKSON, James Eastland, Lakeland Drive, pipe smokers, The Quarter on Lakeland, tobacco, William Faulkner
Tobacco is as much a part of the Old South as bourbon and blueticks. There’s a light-hearted exchange on the leaf’s virtue in the 2003 Civil War movie “Gods and Generals.” “Colonel Stuart, do you use tobacco?” Confederate general Stonewall Jackson asks a junior officer. “No sir, not in any form,” answers Stuart. “Neither do [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: November 9,2012
Tags: black market, cigarette, contraband, court, decision, federal government, illegal, judge, judicial, judiciary, justice, law, legal, ruling, sentence, sentencing, tobacco
OXFORD — An Arkansas man has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the trafficking of contraband cigarettes. James B. Trosper, of Rogers Ark., pleaded guilty in 2011 to three counts involving the scheme. WTVA-TV reports Trosper was sentenced in federal court in Oxford. Prosecutors said Trosper and others were involved [...] [...]
by Associated Press Published: August 3,2012
Tags: bench, cigarette, courts, house arrest, judge, judicial, judiciary, sentence, sentencing, smoker, smoking, tobacco
ABERDEEN — Authorities say an Indiana man has been sentenced in Mississippi to six months on house arrest for making false records related to cigarette sales. Authorities say in a news release that 56-year-old Jack Settles of Indianapolis was sentenced in U.S. District in Aberdeen. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of making [...] [...]
TUPELO — A Tennessee man will be sentenced July 30 for his role in routing tobacco through Mississippi to avoid taxes, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports. Randy Benham of Cordova, Tenn., pleaded guilty in 2009 in U.S. District Court to counts of fraud, false statements and money laundering. Benham, along with Jerry G. Burke [...] [...]
TUPELO — A South Carolina man is the latest person to plead guilty to federal charges related to a scheme to avoid paying taxes on thousands of packs of cigarettes. Fred Brackett of Lancaster pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court. The indictment in the case says Bracket bought more than 188,000 cartons of cigarettes [...] [...]
TUPELO — The city of Tupelo has been waiting for the opportunity to bring the city’s police department under one roof instead of having detectives and patrol officers work out of different buildings. City attorney John Hill said the federal government is ready to hand over to Tupelo the old Milam Manufacturing building. The building [...] [...]
OXFORD — An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty in Mississippi to charges related to his role in a multi-state cigarette smuggling operation. James B. Trosper of Rogers Ark., pleaded guilty this past week in federal court in Oxford to three counts involving a scheme to defraud the U.S. and several states of more than $1 [...] [...]
JACKSON COUNTY — Attorney General Jim Hood’s lawsuit against Brown & Williamson (B&W) Tobacco Corporation received an $8 million victory in court. Judge Jaye A. Bradley, in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, issued a ruling on Hood’s motion to enforce settlement against B&W. The original tobacco settlement requires the company to pay Mississippi for [...] [...]