果酱视频

ST. LOUIS 鈥� An area convenience store owner who helped federal authorities convict three former city aldermen for bribery had his four-year prison sentence reduced by six months in a separate contraband cigarette trafficking case.

But U.S. District Judge Ronnie White鈥檚 reasons for reducing the sentences of area businessman Mohammed Almuttan and three of his brothers are sealed from public view, like much of the arguments in the appeal of the sentences Almuttan and his brothers filed over a year ago.

Almuttan was sentenced in October 2022 to four years in prison for conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes, but he has been out on bond during appeal.

White, who issued the initial sentence, shaved six months off it in a Feb. 5 ruling after the federal appeals court sent the case back to White in October.

Almuttan鈥檚 attorneys had argued when they filed the appeal that White鈥檚 statements during the October 2022 sentencing about Almuttan鈥檚 involvement in synthetic drug trafficking were improper because federal prosecutors had dropped those charges. Almuttan pleaded guilty to the cigarette trafficking charge in April 2022 and prosecutors dismissed money laundering and synthetic drug trafficking charges.

But during sentencing, White had called Almuttan 鈥渙ne of the ringleaders, if not the mastermind鈥� of the group鈥檚 synthetic drug trafficking operations and said 鈥渘ot only did you instruct people to sell those drugs, you actually manufactured those drugs.鈥�

White鈥檚 hefty sentence came despite Almuttan鈥檚 cooperation with the feds in a wide-ranging public corruption sting that in June 2022 ensnared two alderman, a 果酱视频 County official and one of the city鈥檚 top political figures 鈥� longtime former Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed. The officials鈥� ensuing resignations left a lasting impact on the balance of political power in 果酱视频. (Reed earlier this month sought a reduction of his prison sentence to 30 months from 45 months, citing his work in prison tutoring inmates and driving released felons to halfway houses, bus stations and airports.)

The aldermen were all caught on camera accepting cash bribes from an area convenience store owner prosecutors identified only as John Doe in exchange for tax abatements and help buying city-owned land.

But clues in the indictment revealed it was Almuttan, a Palestinian native who faced deportation in addition to prison time for 2017 charges that accused him and 34 others of buying cheap Missouri cigarettes and selling them in high-tax states and manufacturing synthetic drugs for sale in his family鈥檚 stores.

His work as an informant didn鈥檛 come up during sentencing, and prosecutors who brought the cigarette and drug trafficking charges didn鈥檛 make any statements or public sentencing recommendations. But prosecutors had dropped many of the charges against Almuttan and three of his brothers who were also charged in the sting. They also agreed to say Almuttan鈥檚 crime was not one of 鈥渕oral turpitude,鈥� a class of offenses that can lead to deportation.

Whether Almuttan鈥檚 cooperation with the feds in the yearslong public corruption case played a role in his attorneys鈥� arguments during their appeal is unclear. Almuttan鈥檚 appeal has been largely sealed from public view, as have motions since it was sent back to the lower court, including Judge White鈥檚 reasons for reducing his sentence to 42 months.

A date for Almuttan to report to prison has not been set, but the court recommended he be sent to the relatively close federal prison in Marion.

White also reduced by six months the sentences for Almuttan鈥檚 brothers: Rami Almuttan, Hisham Mutan and Saddam Mutan. Saddam Mutan was initially sentenced to 46 months in prison. The others faced sentences of 48 months.

Attorneys for Almuttan and his brothers did not respond to requests for comment. It鈥檚 unclear if they can or will appeal again.

Almuttan owned and operated several businesses and convenience stores in the area, mostly in north 果酱视频 or north 果酱视频 County. Among his properties was the Shell gas station on North Florissant and 果酱视频 avenues which some neighbors nicknamed the 鈥淪hoot 鈥檈m up Shell鈥� because of the crime there. City officials shut it down for a year in November 2022, and it recently opened under new ownership.