Press Release  Three Holyoke Men Charged in Connection with Major Multistate Illegal Tobacco Distribution Network

Boston — A Holyoke man, his son and their business associate have been indicted in connection with running a major illegal tobacco distribution network throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Pedro T. Perez, a.k.a. Jose H. Perez, age 54, of Holyoke, Pedro Dejesus Perez Jr., 21, of Holyoke, and Saturino Maldonado, 56, of Holyoke, were indicted Thursday by a Statewide Grand Jury on the charges of Possession with Intent to Sell 12,000 or More Unstamped Cigarettes, Possession of Counterfeit Stamps, Tax Evasion (Concealment of Items Subject to Tax) and Conspiracy. Maldonado was also indicted with an additional charge of Possession with Intent to Sell Less than 12,000 Unstamped Cigarettes.

“These defendants were allegedly running a large-scale criminal operation that was transporting, selling, and distributing black market cigarettes across state lines for their own profit,” said AG Healey. “We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who evade the law and rob the state of much needed tax revenue.”

The defendants will be arraigned in Hampden Superior Court at a later date.

These charges are the result of a joint operation with Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (MA DOR), the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services’ Special Investigations Section, the Rhode Island Department of Revenue and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The investigation revealed that Perez regularly delivered black trash bags full of cartons and half cases of illegal, untaxed cigarettes to individuals and dozens of convenience stores throughout Western Massachusetts, Dorchester, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Perez also allegedly sold illegal, untaxed cigarettes out of his home in Holyoke.

Maldonado and Dejesus Perez allegedly assisted Perez with transporting and delivering the trash bags of untaxed cigarettes. Perez allegedly regularly traveled to New York using U-Haul vans to obtain some of the illegal cigarettes and stored them at a U-Haul storage facility in Chicopee.

It is alleged that the cigarettes transported and sold by Perez either had no excise tax stamp, a requirement of all cigarettes sold in Massachusetts, or had a counterfeit excise tax stamp.

In May 2016, State Police obtained and executed search warrants of Perez’s Holyoke house, Maldonado’s home, a Dorchester convenience store and the U-Haul storage unit.  Authorities uncovered more than 1,764 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, $22,000 in cash, counterfeit excise tax stamps and two cars used to facilitate the operation. During the execution of search warrants for each defendants’ home and the storage unit, investigators seized more than 300,000 untaxed cigarettes.

These charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Representatives from the AG’s Office and MA DOR are working together as co-chairs of the Illegal Tobacco Task Force, which was created earlier this year, to combat contraband tobacco distribution throughout the state through civil and criminal investigative and enforcement actions. The Task Force also includes representatives from the Office of the State Treasurer, the Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Public Health.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Gina Masotta, of AG Healey’s Gaming Division and Amy Karangekis, Deputy Chief/Managing Attorney of AG Healey’s Western Mass Regional Office. The case was investigated by State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, State Police assigned to the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office, Holyoke Police, financial investigators assigned to the AG’s Gaming Enforcement Division, the AG’s Digital Evidence Lab, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the Bureau, of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services’ Special Investigations Section and the Rhode Island Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation, Special Investigation Unit.

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