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JACOB 'THE JEWELER' ARABOV SENTENCED: NY businessman gets 2 ½ years for lying about a drug ring.
*Jacob Arabov, known in hip hop circles as Jacob "The Jeweler," was sentenced Tuesday to 2 ½ years in federal prison for lying to investigators who were working to stop a multistate drug ring.
The 42-year-old Russian immigrant was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and to make a $2 million forfeiture payment to the government, reports the Associated Press.
He pleaded guilty in October to falsifying records and giving false statements as part of a deal with federal prosecutors, who were seeking a minimum sentence for Arabov of three years and one month. However, U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn decided to remove seven months from the prosecutors' recommendation, citing Arabov's extensive charity work.
"I feel ashamed that I broke the laws of this country, a country that has been so good for me," Arabov said. "I will carry this shame for the rest of my life."
In 2005, police arrested the "king of bling" in his Manhattan jewelry shop and accused him and others of conspiring to launder about $270 million in drug profits for the "Black Mafia Family," a Detroit-based crime ring that took root in the early 1990s. Prosecutors dropped the money laundering charges in the plea deal.
The seven-year investigation resulted in the indictments of Arabov and at least 41 other people, according to federal authorities. They say about 1,100 pounds of cocaine and $19 million in cash and other assets were seized beginning in 2000.
Arabov is due to begin his prison sentence on Jan. 15.
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