$14 billion tobacco penalty sought

WASHINGTON — The government asked a federal judge to impose $14 billion in penalties against Big Tobacco in a racketeering lawsuit, ignoring critics who questioned why prosecutors backed off stiffer punishments.

Cigarette makers on Tuesday said they would ask U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler to throw out the proposed remedies.

The Justice Department's request, filed shortly before midnight Monday, fleshed out proposals that prosecutors put forward during the trial's closing arguments earlier this month.

The government asked for companies to pay for a $10 billion, five-year smoking cessation program and a $4 billion, 10-year education campaign to counter tobacco marketing. Prosecutors also asked for cigarette makers to reduce youth-smoking levels by 42 percent by 2013, or pay stiff fines.

Philip Morris attorney Dan Webb said "every single one of the remedies is legally defective" and companies will ask Kessler to dismiss the government's proposals. Though Kessler could choose to fashion her own penalties, Webb said prosecutors have not offered enough evidence to warrant doing so.

"If all the remedies are legally defective, a judgment could be entered now in favor of the tobacco companies," he said.

Bill Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the plan "an act of desperation," saying the companies "are about to lose the liability part of this case."

The government alleges tobacco companies conspired for decades to mislead the public about the health risks of smoking. The trial started in September.

The case came under fire from Democratic lawmakers and anti-smoking advocates this month when prosecutors slashed the size of a $130 billion stop-smoking plan offered by one of their own witnesses. At lawmakers' request, a Justice Department official agreed to investigate whether trial lawyers were inappropriately pressured to downsize the plan.

On Tuesday, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., called the proposal "a political decision to cave in to Big Tobacco at the expense of the American people."

An appeals court in February barred the government from seeking $280 billion in allegedly ill-gotten tobacco profits. The government must decide by next month whether to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.