Two NOPD officers have resigned after pleading guilty in federal court to charges that they transported over 13,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes to North Carolina in early 2016.
30-year-old Justin Brown and 32-year-old Joshua Carthon resigned from the force after each pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a racketeering charge. They will face a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.
The two had been on suspension since they were indicted last September.
The officers were each paid $6,000 in a scheme to smuggle cigarettes across state lines to evade state and federal taxes.
Brown had been with the NOPD for four years and Carthon was a seven year veteran of the department.