U.S. v. Mohamed

Record failed to contain sufficient evidence to support defendant’s conviction on charge of transporting and possessing contraband cigarettes in violation of 18 USC section 2342(a), even though defendant possessed 23,400 cigarettes, which did not bear Indiana tax stamps, as well as bag containing $15,000 in cash. While record showed that defendant had violated Indiana’s requirements regarding transportation of unstamped cigarettes over Indiana highways, govt. failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that defendant had intended to sell said cigarettes in Indiana, so as to trigger obligation to obtain Indiana tax stamps for said cigarettes and to establish that said cigarettes met contraband definition in section 2342(a).