LEXINGTON, Ky. - Two brothers who oversee a $40 million wholesale grocery business face five years in prison after they were found guilty of racketeering and other federal charges.

        Tareq Shalash, 34, and Ziyad Shalash, 30, were convicted of using their grocery warehouses to fence stolen goods after a two-week trial and 6 hours of jury deliberation.

        Criminal investigators with the U.S. Department of Agriculture first alleged that the Shalashes were dealing in stolen property after a series of sting operations that targeted mom-and-pop convenience stores in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.

        Undercover agents sold “stolen” formula to the grocers, then tracked the formula's path. They were surprised when, every time, the formula wound up at the Shalashes' Unity Wholesale Grocers.

        Separate investigations into warehouse thefts and tractor-trailer hijackings in Tennessee also drew a path to Unity Wholesale or United Trading Co., the Shalashes' other warehouse.

        In addition to racketeering, the two were found guilty of money laundering, interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy charges.

        The government is seeking forfeiture of the Shalashes' money and property.

        The jury acquitted Tareq Shalash of three of the 16 counts. Ziyad Shalash was found guilty of all eight counts the jury considered.

USS Cincinnati caught in tug-of-war
Shooting raises alarm on Main St.
Tristate better prepared for attack
NY vendors hawk 9-11 memories
Sept. 11 baby reason for joy
9-11 birthdays take on new meaning
Tristate events mark Sept. 11
CPS fails graduation test
Tailgate parties only reason to cheer
Wrong-way crash causes I-275 pileup
Cincinnati bucks crime trend
Girl, 10, gives birthday money to Afghan children
Health Foundation forms fund to assume new roles
Man accused of propositioning child
Mason sewer rate change proposed
You Asked For It
Good News: Show raises money, awareness
History teaching plan has critics
Midwest not popular for exchange students
Train, pickup truck wreck kills four
Alternative schedule has parents on day-care ropes
Deaths investigated as murder-suicide
Council becomes video camera-shy
Fort Campbell soldiers face anxiety of war
Grocer brothers convicted of racketeering
Militia movement fading in Kentucky
Poll: Kentuckians back strike on Iraq
Theft suspect accused of IRA connections