ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A Fairfax man at the center of a massive
cigarette-smuggling ring has pleaded guilty to conspiring to hire a
hitman to murder someone he thought had stolen from him.

The plea Tuesday from 32-year-old Xing Xiao is the 14th conviction obtained by authorities who broke up the Stafford County ring. The group bought 77 million cigarettes from undercover agents in Virginia and took them to New York, where they fetch a better price.

In the last few years, federal agents in Virginia have sold more than 250 million cigarettes in sting operations designed to combat increased smuggling.

In Tuesday's plea, Xiao admitted that he tried to hire a hitman to murder a man whom he believed had stolen 15,000 cartons of
cigarettes from him.