Ahmed Alwarak, 64, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan to 10 months in prison. Ahmed Abdullah, 25, was sentenced to one year and one day. His brother, Fahmi Abdullah, 27, [image-nocss] was sentenced to eight and one-half months imprisonment, George E.B. Holding, U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina, told the newspaper.
All three defendants are citizens of Yemen. They will be surrendered to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the conclusion of their active sentences, Holding's spokeswoman Robin Zier said in a news release.Click here to see the sentencing statement from the U.S. Attorney.
Alwarak and Ahmed Abdullah pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to theft of U.S. government property, and Fahmi Abdullah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen property and to steal U.S. government property, Zier said. A federal grand jury returned indictments against the three men on Aug. 13, 2009.
Alwarak operated the Greenville Stop One and Stop Two convenience stores. Ahmed Abdullah operated the Pitt Stop One convenience store. His brother, Fahmi, worked at the store.
Between December 2008 and July 2009, local, state and federal officers conducted an undercover investigation of illegal activities at the stores, dubbed "Operation Inconvenience."
An operative sold cigarettes represented as stolen and several U.S. Department of Agriculture electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards to Alwarak at heavily discounted prices, Zier said. The EBT cards are designed to provide food assistance to low income residents but were used to buy merchandise for resale at Alwarak's stores, resulting in a loss to the government of more than $24,000, Zier said, according to the newspaper.
The same undercover operative also sold cigarettes and EBT cards to the Abdullahs. Some of the cigarettes were shipped out of the state, Zier said, resulting in a government loss of $30,000.
The three stores were shut down following early morning raids, and eight men were charged in connection with the illegal activities at the stores.
Nuisance abatement actions by the Greenville city attorney's office kept the stores permanently closed. Greenville Stop Two was later razed.
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