Former Sag Harbor 7-Eleven Owner Gets 87 Months

Just minutes after taking over as acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Monday, Kelly T. Currie announced the sentencing of a former Sag Harbor 7-Eleven franchise owner, Farrukh Baig, to 87 months in federal prison.

“The defendant exploited his alien employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses,” Mr. Currie said in a statement. “He now faces time in prison for not only systematically employing illegal aliens, but also for concealing their employment by stealing the identities of children and even the dead.”

Besides the Sag Harbor store, Mr. Baig, 58, of Head of the Harbor, was a partner in nine other franchises across Long Island, as well four in Virginia.

Mr. Baig had been facing multiple felony charges and pleaded guilty to two of them, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens.

He could have been sentenced to up to 108 months total. His attorney, Joseph R. Conway, had argued in court documents for a lesser sentence. He said in a memo to Justice Sandra J. Feurstein that Mr. Baig is now “financially ruined” and a broken man.

Mr. Baig was arrested with several others in June 2013. All have since pleaded guilty to various charges. Two of them, Tariq Rana and Zahid Baig, were sentenced earlier this year on lesser charges to time served -- three years, with time off for good behavior. Three others, Bushra Baig, Ramon Nanas, and Shannawaz Baig, are awaiting sentencing.