Nine liquor store operators charged with sales tax evasion.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nine liquor store operators are charged with sales tax evasion as part of a two-year criminal investigation to crack down on untaxed liquor being brought in from outside Illinois.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan says the nine defendants cheated Illinois out of more than $3.5 million in sales taxes.

Two of the men charged run Jeff's Food and Liquors on Chicago's South Side. That store was part of an I-Team investigation in June. The I-Team uncovered Illinois retailers illegally buying cheaper liquor from stores in Indiana and then transporting it back across the border to sell in their stores.