BY KECIA BAL
A Canadian busted a year ago by state police in Somerset County pleaded guilty Monday to knowingly concealing $257,400 in currency in his truck as he drove from Canada into the United States.
At the time, state Trooper Mike Volk said he noticed suspicious behavior when pulled over a Canadian trucker, 53-year-old Ebrahim Mansouri of Toronto, on the turnpike.
Mansouri reportedly told police he did not have a log book, was traveling empty from Detroit to Philadelphia and that the rig belonged to his son – though it was registered in his name.
Based on his “deceptive behavior,” police searched the vehicle.
Authorities said they found cash in vacuum-sealed bundles hidden in a sleeper berth closet. The State Police Assist Forfeiture unit and the Pennsylvania National Guard conducted ion scanning of the money and truck and found high levels of cocaine and heroin, police said.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement assisted state police, Somerset Turnpike Barracks, with the investigation.
An investigator could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Mansouri pleaded guilty to transporting currency to evade a reporting requirement before U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson in Johnstown. He is to be sentenced Jan. 14.
