January 15, 2010 10:30 AM
Carol Gauthier from Jonquière (Quebec) has been sentenced to six months in jail and fined $1,126,523 for possession of more than three million unmarked cigarettes.
Gauthier was convicted of possession of unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale in the Ontario Court of Justice in North Bay on January 11, 2010.
The Ministry of Revenue's Special Investigations Branch laid charges following an incident on April 8, 2008 in which the OPP stopped a vehicle in the Township of East Ferris (south of North Bay), and discovered 3,039,200 unmarked cigarettes.
In addition to the fine, Gauthier must pay a $281,631 surcharge to the Victims' Justice Fund.
The illegal cigarettes were seized and forfeited to the Ontario government.