United States Customs officials stopped Connors on April 7, 1996, as he attempted to smuggle 1150 Cuban cigars into the United States from Canada. The officials confiscated the cigars and Connors's passport. Undeterred, Connors continued to travel to Cuba over the next three years on numerous occasions to smuggle cigars into the United States and sell them. In March 1997, local police found Cuban cigars in Connors's home, located at 5443 Suffield Terrace in Skokie, Illinois. The following day, March 15, 1997, Skokie police turned over to U.S. Customs officials the cigars that they found at Connors's home. Connors's escapades continued through 1999, when in late October U.S. Customs officials seized 850 Cuban cigars from Connors's home. A jury convicted Connors of smuggling Cuban cigars into the United States, conspiring to smuggle cigars into the United States, making a false statement on a passport application, and violating the Trading With The Enemy Act, 50 App. U.S.C. §§ 5(b)(1), 16.
