Two Convictions for Possession of 409,800 Unmarked Cigarettes

Two individuals were convicted and fined a total of $152,830 for Tobacco Tax Act offences in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall.

On March 19, 2009, John Deer of Kahnawake, Que. was found guilty of possession of 220,000 unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale. Deer was fined $82,010 and must pay $20,502 to the Victims' Justice Fund.

Sheila Sandy of Oshweken, Ont., found in possession of 189,800 unmarked cigarettes, was convicted on March 12, 2009 of the same offence. Sandy was fined $70,820 and must pay $17,705 to the Victims' Justice Fund.

The Ministry of Revenue's Special Investigations Branch laid charges after the Cornwall Community Police Service pulled over the vehicles on Brookdale Avenue in Cornwall in two separate incidents in May and February 2008, respectively. In both cases, the seized contraband cigarettes were 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 is one of several in the 2009 Budget, which - if approved by the Legislature - would continue to build on measures enacted over the past five years to strengthen tobacco tax enforcement.