ABINGDON, Va. - Two Miami companies have been ordered to forfeit millions of dollars and their president has been sentenced to five years in prison for their roles in the trafficking of contraband cigarettes.

Roberto Ricieri Ribeiro was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Abingdon. He was president of Belcorp of America Inc. and Players International Services Corp.

Federal prosecutors say the defendants evaded federal excise taxes by failing to report all cigarettes that Belcorp made or took from its manufacturing plant. In addition, the defendants bought materials without required invoices used for tracking and shipped or sold products without invoices or under false invoices.

For their earlier guilty pleas, Ribeiro and the companies each also were ordered to make restitution of $9.4 million and forfeit more than $19 million in property.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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