Tobacco wholesaler GT Northeast charged with conspiracy to avoid paying more than US$2M in cigarette taxes in Kentucky, also tied to several large-scale investigations into untaxed cigarettes over last decade

Michelle Rivera

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky , October 5, 2011 (Associated Press) – A tobacco distributor tied to several large scale investigations into untaxed cigarettes over the last decade has been charged with conspiracy to avoid paying more than $2 million in cigarette taxes in Kentucky.

A federal grand jury in Louisville indicted 41-year-old Pedro "Peter" Bello of Miami, Fla., on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

But, Bello, who ran tobacco wholesaler GT Northeast, has been linked to other investigations and is also a defendant in a civil suit brought by the city of New York over untaxed cigarettes.

A woman answering the phone at a number in Miami listed for Bello said he no longer lived at that house. Bello is scheduled for arraignment Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m. in Louisville.

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