Liggett To Aid Tobacco Probe

Liggett & Myers Inc., smallest of the big five cigarette-makers, agreed Tuesday to cooperate with the Justice Department's criminal investigation of the tobacco industry.

The agreement, the first of its kind with a major tobacco company, did not contain any grant of immunity from prosecution, the department announced. Liggett had sought immunity in discussions with prosecutors, officials had said.

The Durham, North Carolina, company and its parent, Liggett Group Inc. of New York, agreed to provide complete and accurate information about:

• Industry knowledge of the health consequences of smoking cigarettes and the addictive nature of nicotine.

• Targeting of children and adolescents as customers.

• Manipulation of nicotine levels in tobacco products.

The company agreed to help prosecutors obtain relevant evidence, including evidence of crimes and fraud contained in documents the tobacco companies continue to refuse to disclose on grounds of attorney-client or attorney-work product privileges.

In February, a source familiar with the investigation had said that Liggett was offering to make its scientists and other experts available to the government for use in its three-year-old investigation.

Among the allegations the department is probing: whether industry officials lied to Congress in 1996 when they testified to having no knowledge of nicotine's addictive qualities or adverse health affects from smoking; and whether they submitted false data to the FDA.

Liggett, which is owned by Brooke Group Ltd. and markets L&M, Chesterfield, Eve and Lark cigarettes in the United States, broke with bigger companies last year in reaching an earlier settlement with 22 states that sued the industry to recover Medicaid funds spent on treating smokers.

It also was the first company to list ingredients on its cigarette packs.

By Michael J. Sniffen