Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announces that Rosalie Jacobs, age 62, Hogansburg, New York, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in Utica to an Information which charged her with conspiracy to structure currency transactions, in violation of 18 U.S.C. ß 371.

As part of her plea, Rosalie Jacobs admitted that she conspired with others to structure a series of cash deposits of U.S. Currency in less than $10,000 increments to avoid federal reporting requirements. During the relevant 13-month period, Rosalie Jacobs ran a business named Jacobs Tobacco on the Akwesasne Indian Reserve and received payments for tobacco products in U.S. Currency. During the relevant time period, Rosalie Jacobs was aware that any cash deposit into a domestic financial institution in excess of $10,000 caused the financial institution in question to generate a report of said transaction, called a Currency Transaction Report, pursuant to Title 31, United States Code, Section 5313(a). In an effort to avoid such reporting requirements, Rosalie Jacobs caused $2,634,189.55 to be deposited in accounts held at two financial institutions: Seacomm Federal Credit Union and Community Bank, both located in Massena, New York, with each deposit being intentionally in an amount less than $10,000. For each transaction, Rosalie Jacobs or one of her employees packaged the cash in separate bags at Jacobs Tobacco and then gave it to a person, who was instructed to make the deposits in the aforementioned banks.

Rosalie Jacobs is due to be sentenced on December 9, 2011, at which time she faces a sentence of five years probation, 12 months of home confinement, and the forfeiture of $2,634,189.55.

In a related case, on May 20, 2011, Rosalie Jacobs’ son, Alan Jacobs, age 36, of Hogansburg, New York, was the fifth person to plead guilty to conspiracy to engage in a Hobbs Act robbery, in connection with the killing of Daniel Simonds during a drug-related robbery. As part of the agreement, Jacobs agreed to a mandatory 20-year term of imprisonment and forfeiture in the amount of $666,466.82 in U.S. Currency. He also faces up to five years of supervised release following any period of incarceration and up to a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for him is set for September 23, 2011. Alan Jacobs committed this crime while on release pending sentencing for another case in which he pled guilty to conspiring to distribute between 700 and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.

The prosecution of Rosalie Jacobs was spearheaded by agents from the Internal Revenue Service in Syracuse, New York.