King County Woman Gets Prison Time For Cigarette Trafficking

SEATTLE (AP) — The owner of a Kenmore beauty salon is going to federal prison for selling contraband cigarettes from Vietnam.

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour also ordered 45-year-old Han Bui to pay about $250,000 in tax penalties and assessments to Washington state.

Bui, the owner of Lovely Nails and Beauty Salon, pleaded guilty in February. The U.S. attorney’s office says the cigarettes were sold under familiar brand names and packaging, but were made in Vietnam.

Investigators found more than 400,000 contraband cigarettes and $115,000 in cash when they searched her home and business in 2011. They believed that because the cigarettes were sold outside regular channels, many probably went to minors.