Jail Time, Probation and Community Service for Contraband Tobacco

Cornwall: Two individuals were convicted and fined a combined total of $94,600 for Tobacco Tax Act offences in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall on March 26, 2009.

Gabriel Dignard of Cornwall pleaded guilty of possession of 150,200 unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale and was sentenced to 12 months' probation and 100 hours of community service. Dignard was fined $20,000 and must also pay $5,000 to the Victims' Justice Fund. The Ministry of Revenue's Special Investigations Branch laid charges following an incident on February 7, 2008 when the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), with assistance from the Canadian Border Services Agency, pulled over a van on Highway 401 in Cornwall and found the unmarked cigarettes.

Michael Neff of Cornwall Island was found guilty of possession of 200,000 unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Neff was fined $74,600 and in addition must pay $18,650 to the Victims' Justice Fund. The unmarked cigarettes were found during an OPP Ride Program check on August 20, 2008 near Highway 401 in South Stormont Township.

In both cases, the cigarettes were seized and later forfeited to the Ontario government.

The Government of Ontario has many enforcement measures to discourage the sale of contraband tobacco. The Tobacco Tax Act has been strengthened with new inspection and seizure powers, new offence provisions, increased fines, jail provisions, civil penalties and provisions that permit tax investigators to share intelligence information with police and other agencies that enforce tobacco-related laws.

A proposed amendment to suspend the driver's licences of persons convicted of certain tobacco offences under the act is contained in the Budget Measures Act, 2009. The amendment must be passed by the Ontario legislature and receive Royal Assent to become law. The proposed amendment is one of several in the 2009 Budget that build on measures enacted over the past five years to strengthen tobacco tax enforcement.