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SUBSCRIBELOG INN.Y. / Region
4 Admit Guilt In Laundering Of Illicit Funds
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NOVEMBER 5, 1998
Four people have admitted laundering profits from the sale of contraband tobacco and liquor in Canada as members of a multimillion-dollar smuggling ring, the authorities said today.
The guilty pleas entered Tuesday before Judge Thomas McAvoy of Federal District Court leave only two defendants to stand trial from among the 21 people indicted by Federal prosecutors last year.
The two remaining defendants, Larry V. Miller of Massena and Anthony Laughing of Hogansburg, were scheduled to return to court today for the beginning of jury selection.
Prosecutors contend that the ring operated through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in northern New York and sold $687 million worth of contraband tobacco and alcohol between 1992 and 1996.
A total of 16 people have pleaded guilty in the case. Charges against two others were dismissed last week and another defendant fled the country.

Prosecutors accused Mr. Miller, a Massena club owner, of running the smuggling cartel in a partnership with Lewis C. Tavano, 57, and his brother Robert J. Tavano Sr., 61, both of Niagara Falls.
The Tavano brothers pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using their importing company to launder $50 million they gained through smuggling cigarettes and liquor into Canada.
John W. Fountain, a retired state trooper from Malone, pleaded guilty to laundering $557 million through his currency exchange and armored car businesses. Loran Thompson, a Mohawk restaurant and marina owner, pleaded guilty to the same charge.
All four men agreed to provide ''substantial assistance'' to Federal prosecutors, said United States Attorney Thomas Maroney.
The Tavanos are to spend five years in prison and pay fines totaling $1 million as part of the plea bargain.
Mr. Fountain, 57, is to get seven years in prison and forfeit several properties. Mr. Thompson, 50, is to receive a sentence of four years and nine months and pay a $650,000 fine.
