Police arrested a trio of suspected burglars Wednesday who allegedly broke into an Afton business to steal cigarettes and left the store only to return a short time later to steal cash in a second break-in.New York State Police have charged 19-year-old Steven C. Barrows of Unadilla, 21-year-old Heather Wrench and 27-year-old Arnie J. Roe, both of Bainbridge, with third degree burglary.
Police said the three broke into the Afton Country Store at 30 Maple Street in the Village of Afton, in the early hours of Nov. 25.
Troopers said they stole a number of cigarettes and then left the store. A “short time later,” the three then returned to Afton Country Store and stole an undisclosed amount of cash from the register, according to police.
Latest Marlboro Smoking News
Nov 26, 2009
Raft of charges after row
A blue with the boss landed David Kerr in court charged with threatening behaviour, drink driving – and stealing a solitary cigarette.
The problem started when the 56-year-old was called into work to sort out a pay issue on April 2.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Lewis Sutton told the New Plymouth District Court that Kerr got abusive and argumentative when his boss was trying to explain what the problem was.
"The defendant stood up and leant over the desk towards the victim and yelled at her," Mr Sutton said.Kerr then picked up her cigarettes and and took one out of the packet.
Mr Sutton said the victim felt frightened and intimidated by Kerr's actions.
When police arrived Kerr admitted what he had done and said the company had been ripping everyone off and owed him money.
Police suspected Kerr, who had ridden his moped to work, had been drinking and test results showed he had 196 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mcg.
Defence lawyer Barry Henderson said Kerr had been drinking and had not expected to be called into work."Since this incident he hasn't touched a drop," Mr Henderson said.
Judge Allan Roberts said the charge of theft for taking the cigarette showed how the relationship with his former employer had deteriorated.
Kerr was sentenced to 150 hours community work for drunk driving and convicted and discharged on the charges of theft and threatening.
Judge Roberts warned Kerr if he was caught driving drunk again he would be going to jail.
The problem started when the 56-year-old was called into work to sort out a pay issue on April 2.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Lewis Sutton told the New Plymouth District Court that Kerr got abusive and argumentative when his boss was trying to explain what the problem was.
"The defendant stood up and leant over the desk towards the victim and yelled at her," Mr Sutton said.Kerr then picked up her cigarettes and and took one out of the packet.
Mr Sutton said the victim felt frightened and intimidated by Kerr's actions.
When police arrived Kerr admitted what he had done and said the company had been ripping everyone off and owed him money.
Police suspected Kerr, who had ridden his moped to work, had been drinking and test results showed he had 196 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mcg.
Defence lawyer Barry Henderson said Kerr had been drinking and had not expected to be called into work."Since this incident he hasn't touched a drop," Mr Henderson said.
Judge Allan Roberts said the charge of theft for taking the cigarette showed how the relationship with his former employer had deteriorated.
Kerr was sentenced to 150 hours community work for drunk driving and convicted and discharged on the charges of theft and threatening.
Judge Roberts warned Kerr if he was caught driving drunk again he would be going to jail.
Nov 23, 2009
Armed men robbed Jersey City gas station of cigarettes, cash
Gunmen got away with $2,160 worth of cigarettes, cash and other merchandise when they held up the convenience store at a Jersey City gas station in the early morning hours today, officials said.
At 1:52 a.m. police responded to the Kennedy Mart gas station on Kennedy Boulevard and Seaview Avenue where an employee said two gunmen entered the store wearing masks while three accomplices waited outside the door.
The victim said the men told him and another employee to lay down on the floor and stuffed merchandise into a laundry bag, reports said. They took $1,500 in cigarettes, $160 in cigars, $200 from the cash register and a cell phone worth $150, reports said.
The robbers left the store and met with the three men waiting outside before all of them left heading east on Seaview Avenue, reports said, adding that police searched the area but came up empty handed. Both men who entered the store were dressed all in black, including gloves and baseball caps, reports said.
At 1:52 a.m. police responded to the Kennedy Mart gas station on Kennedy Boulevard and Seaview Avenue where an employee said two gunmen entered the store wearing masks while three accomplices waited outside the door.
The victim said the men told him and another employee to lay down on the floor and stuffed merchandise into a laundry bag, reports said. They took $1,500 in cigarettes, $160 in cigars, $200 from the cash register and a cell phone worth $150, reports said.
The robbers left the store and met with the three men waiting outside before all of them left heading east on Seaview Avenue, reports said, adding that police searched the area but came up empty handed. Both men who entered the store were dressed all in black, including gloves and baseball caps, reports said.
Nov 18, 2009
UF study finds more teens smoke hookah
Danielle Lee won’t touch a cigarette, but she’ll pass a hookah pipe around a circle of friends any day.
And, according to a recent UF study, an increasing number of middle school- and high school-aged children share Lee’s fondness for the alternative form of tobacco.
The study, presented on Nov. 9 at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, found that 11 percent of Florida high school students and 4 percent of Florida middle school students had smoked hookah at least once.
Hookah burns charcoal and tobacco. Air is first drawn through the tobacco and then into the pipe, where it passes through water, which leads many smokers to believe hookah smoking is safer than cigarette or cigar smoking.
Maureen Miller, alcohol and other drug prevention specialist with UF’s GatorWell Health Promotion Services, was quick to point out hookah’s potentially dangerous effects.
“This isn’t harmless,” Miller said of hookah. “There certainly are some serious health concerns here.”
The World Health Organization reported a typical 20- to 80-minute hookah session is the equivalent of smoking about 100 cigarettes and can deliver 11 times more carbon monoxide than a cigarette.
The study shows an increase in hookah usage among members of the same age bracket from a 2005 University of Pittsburgh study that found 10 percent of high school students and 2 percent of middle school students surveyed had smoked hookah at least once.
But the trend doesn’t stop at middle and high school students. In a two-block radius between West 10th Street and West 12th Street on West University Avenue, there are at least five restaurants or lounges that offer the alternative form and often flavored tobacco, presumably for the college-aged audience in proximity to UF.
“I’m totally against smoking cigarettes, but I’ll smoke hookah all day long,” Lee, 20, said as she blew a plume of smoke from the watermelon-flavored tobacco from her hookah pipe inside Farah’s on the Avenue on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. “It’s very acceptable. Smoking hookah is far more acceptable than smoking a cigarette.”
According to Miller, Lee’s view is common.“When people smoke cigarettes, they feel like they have to hide it,” Miller said. “Hookah smoking is not the same.”
Jade Shue, a manager at Farah’s on the Avenue whose favorite flavor of hookah is lemon-mint, has also noticed an increased trend in college-aged students smoking hookah.
“Between [2005] and now, it has just skyrocketed,” she said.
Shue also noted the popularity with hookah smoking might be centered around the fact that hookah smoking is allowed in most restaurants where other forms of tobacco are not.
But not all people have noticed the same trend in hookah smoking.
Lawson Brown, assistant principal of Lincoln Middle School, said he doesn’t think the students at his school fit the profile of the 4 percent of middle school-aged children who had smoked hookah at least once, though he couldn’t be sure.
“Knock on wood, I feel pretty fortunate that [hookah smoking] is not an aspect of our discipline or school culture,” he said.
Anne Shaughnessy, assistant principal for curriculum at Gainesville High School, echoed Brown’s comments.
“I haven’t seen anything that would cause alarm for me,” she said. “I’m not aware of any trend. I hope I’m not wrong.”
Both school administrators mentioned their respective school’s focus on alcohol and tobacco use prevention measures as a reason for the apparent low instance of hookah use.
“We try to inundate our kids with positive messages about health and about positive social interactions,” Lawson said.
Although Miller acknowledged the cultural and social perception of hookah smoking as less harmful than cigarettes, she offered a suggestion to all hookah-smoking students of any age.
“It’s not a harmless activity,” she said. “There are other activities you can do to relax with your friends other than hookah smoking.”
And, according to a recent UF study, an increasing number of middle school- and high school-aged children share Lee’s fondness for the alternative form of tobacco.
The study, presented on Nov. 9 at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, found that 11 percent of Florida high school students and 4 percent of Florida middle school students had smoked hookah at least once.
Hookah burns charcoal and tobacco. Air is first drawn through the tobacco and then into the pipe, where it passes through water, which leads many smokers to believe hookah smoking is safer than cigarette or cigar smoking.
Maureen Miller, alcohol and other drug prevention specialist with UF’s GatorWell Health Promotion Services, was quick to point out hookah’s potentially dangerous effects.
“This isn’t harmless,” Miller said of hookah. “There certainly are some serious health concerns here.”
The World Health Organization reported a typical 20- to 80-minute hookah session is the equivalent of smoking about 100 cigarettes and can deliver 11 times more carbon monoxide than a cigarette.
The study shows an increase in hookah usage among members of the same age bracket from a 2005 University of Pittsburgh study that found 10 percent of high school students and 2 percent of middle school students surveyed had smoked hookah at least once.
But the trend doesn’t stop at middle and high school students. In a two-block radius between West 10th Street and West 12th Street on West University Avenue, there are at least five restaurants or lounges that offer the alternative form and often flavored tobacco, presumably for the college-aged audience in proximity to UF.
“I’m totally against smoking cigarettes, but I’ll smoke hookah all day long,” Lee, 20, said as she blew a plume of smoke from the watermelon-flavored tobacco from her hookah pipe inside Farah’s on the Avenue on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. “It’s very acceptable. Smoking hookah is far more acceptable than smoking a cigarette.”
According to Miller, Lee’s view is common.“When people smoke cigarettes, they feel like they have to hide it,” Miller said. “Hookah smoking is not the same.”
Jade Shue, a manager at Farah’s on the Avenue whose favorite flavor of hookah is lemon-mint, has also noticed an increased trend in college-aged students smoking hookah.
“Between [2005] and now, it has just skyrocketed,” she said.
Shue also noted the popularity with hookah smoking might be centered around the fact that hookah smoking is allowed in most restaurants where other forms of tobacco are not.
But not all people have noticed the same trend in hookah smoking.
Lawson Brown, assistant principal of Lincoln Middle School, said he doesn’t think the students at his school fit the profile of the 4 percent of middle school-aged children who had smoked hookah at least once, though he couldn’t be sure.
“Knock on wood, I feel pretty fortunate that [hookah smoking] is not an aspect of our discipline or school culture,” he said.
Anne Shaughnessy, assistant principal for curriculum at Gainesville High School, echoed Brown’s comments.
“I haven’t seen anything that would cause alarm for me,” she said. “I’m not aware of any trend. I hope I’m not wrong.”
Both school administrators mentioned their respective school’s focus on alcohol and tobacco use prevention measures as a reason for the apparent low instance of hookah use.
“We try to inundate our kids with positive messages about health and about positive social interactions,” Lawson said.
Although Miller acknowledged the cultural and social perception of hookah smoking as less harmful than cigarettes, she offered a suggestion to all hookah-smoking students of any age.
“It’s not a harmless activity,” she said. “There are other activities you can do to relax with your friends other than hookah smoking.”
Nov 16, 2009
Smokers Lighting Up Despite High Prices
Study Says Cigarette Smoking On Rise; Average Pack Costs $5
Prices of cigarettes may have gone up, but according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it hasn't stopped people from lighting up.
"I think it indicates some things are recession-proof, unfortunately," said Courtney Weatherby, with the American Lung Association.
In fact, according to a 2008 national survey, cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years to just under 21 percent.
"It's very interesting, but I think also in our tough economy right now with the recession it's not something that has to do with people just going out and buying them," Weatherby said. "I think it's still a habit. It's not something they're thinking, 'Oh, I need to quit this because it's expensive.' It's more so what they're doing to de-stress from their job or de-stress from financial trouble at home, things like that."
Longtime smoker Cayla Rawlins said she's tried to quit several times, but she admits one factor keeps getting in the way.
"I have children," Rawlins said. "We have a total of seven children between us. You try not smoking."
With the average pack of cigarettes now selling for $5, if a person buys one pack a day, they'll spend about $140 a month on cigarettes.
That's enough to cover the car insurance on a car plus have money left over for a monthly cell phone bill.
The study indicates those among the hardest hit are people with lower levels of education.
But for those like Rawlins who've seen their paychecks cut in half because of the economy, financial woes have her taking the extra puff.
"Jobs are down, money's short, especially if you have kids to take care of or just yourself," Rawlins said. "You have two people working. I just had a baby, got a granddaughter in the hospital. Between work and everything else, it's 'Get me a cigarette or I'm going to explode.'"
Nov 13, 2009
Coal company to keep headquarters in Southwest Va.
Coal producer Alpha Natural Resources chose to build a new corporate headquarters in Bristol for economic reasons and to stay close to its roots in rural Southwest Virginia, its chief executive officer said.
The company said yesterday that it plans to open a new headquarters building in Bristol's Sugar Hollow Business Complex by 2011, bringing 69 jobs to Virginia.
The decision stems from Alpha's $1.4 billion, all-stock acquisition in August of Linthicum Heights, Md.-based Foundation Coal Holdings. The deal, which created the nation's third-largest coal producer, also led Alpha to consider other locations, including sites in Tennessee and Maryland, for a larger headquarters space.
Alpha settled on the site in Bristol -- about 5 miles from its current home office in Abingdon -- because it could build there faster and at a lower cost than at about a dozen other locations it considered, said Kevin Crutchfield, Alpha Natural Resources' chief executive officer.
Crutchfield said the company resisted pressure to move its headquarters to a larger metropolitan area.
"In the end, we felt like our roots were here in Southwest Virginia, and it allows us to be proximate to our coal miners," he said. "We have a good many operations in Southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky that we can access easily from here."
Alpha Natural Resources has about 6,200 employees and more than 60 coal mines in five states.
Also, Virginia is providing incentives through a $1 million grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund, while the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission is providing $3.4 million in tobacco settlement money targeted for economic development projects. The money will be used for building costs, Crutchfield said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's office said the new headquarters would create about 69 jobs. Crutchfield said those jobs will be a combination of new hires and transfers from Foundation Coal's Maryland office. Alpha has about 130 headquarters employees now.
Alpha is investing about $17.5 million in the new headquarters through a lease-buyback agreement. The project is expected to result in an additional $3.5 million in direct outlays. The new building will have about 100,000-square-feet of space versus the company's current 40,000-square-foot office.
The company said yesterday that it plans to open a new headquarters building in Bristol's Sugar Hollow Business Complex by 2011, bringing 69 jobs to Virginia.
The decision stems from Alpha's $1.4 billion, all-stock acquisition in August of Linthicum Heights, Md.-based Foundation Coal Holdings. The deal, which created the nation's third-largest coal producer, also led Alpha to consider other locations, including sites in Tennessee and Maryland, for a larger headquarters space.
Alpha settled on the site in Bristol -- about 5 miles from its current home office in Abingdon -- because it could build there faster and at a lower cost than at about a dozen other locations it considered, said Kevin Crutchfield, Alpha Natural Resources' chief executive officer.
Crutchfield said the company resisted pressure to move its headquarters to a larger metropolitan area.
"In the end, we felt like our roots were here in Southwest Virginia, and it allows us to be proximate to our coal miners," he said. "We have a good many operations in Southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky that we can access easily from here."
Alpha Natural Resources has about 6,200 employees and more than 60 coal mines in five states.
Also, Virginia is providing incentives through a $1 million grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund, while the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission is providing $3.4 million in tobacco settlement money targeted for economic development projects. The money will be used for building costs, Crutchfield said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's office said the new headquarters would create about 69 jobs. Crutchfield said those jobs will be a combination of new hires and transfers from Foundation Coal's Maryland office. Alpha has about 130 headquarters employees now.
Alpha is investing about $17.5 million in the new headquarters through a lease-buyback agreement. The project is expected to result in an additional $3.5 million in direct outlays. The new building will have about 100,000-square-feet of space versus the company's current 40,000-square-foot office.
Nov 10, 2009
Altria to Expand Marlboro Snus Test
NEW YORK -- For the first time since early 2009, Altria Group's Philip Morris USA (PM USA) will expand the trial of its Marlboro Snus smokeless, spitless tobacco product to new markets this month.
Marlboro Snus will soon be available in select markets in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California and Colorado, Altria spokesman Bill Phelps told CSNews Online late last week. This expansion plan was first hinted at by Michael E. Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria Group, during the Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer Conference in September, where he revealed the product would enter new markets in the fall.
Snus has been in test market sine 2007, said Phelps, and the company has learned, received feedback and made some changes to the product as a result. New Marlboro Snus includes smaller packaging that contains six pouches, down from 12 pouches, along with a larger pouch size, according to Phelps.
The Marlboro Snus test was previously expanded at the beginning of this year when it entered Phoenix. It also expanded in March 2008 to cover Indianapolis, where the company's initial snus product -- Taboka -- was tested in 2007, and later discontinued when the Marlboro-branded product entered the market.
Marlboro Snus -- a pouch product designed for adult smokers who are interested in smokeless products as an alternative to cigarettes -- is also currently in test market in Dallas.
Meanwhile, new Copenhagen Wintergreen moist smokeless tobacco, by Altria's U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. (USSTC), hit shelves nationwide last week, Phelps told CSNews Online. The 200-year-old brand is banking this new product on the popularity of the wintergreen flavor, which is largest in the MST segment, at 40 percent, he noted.
And Altria's John Middleton will roll out a no-tip cigarillo style of its Black & Mild cigar in the Southeast U.S. this month.
Another new product hits shelves early this month -- L&M Bold -- which is a full-flavor menthol cigarette. This new product was also mentioned by Szymanczyk at the Barclays conference.
Also in Altria's cigarette business, there are plans for two line extensions under the Marlboro Special Blend brand that will be available nationwide early next year, Phelps said. Two new flavors will be "based on the classic Marlboro flavor," he added.
Marlboro Snus will soon be available in select markets in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California and Colorado, Altria spokesman Bill Phelps told CSNews Online late last week. This expansion plan was first hinted at by Michael E. Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria Group, during the Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer Conference in September, where he revealed the product would enter new markets in the fall.
Snus has been in test market sine 2007, said Phelps, and the company has learned, received feedback and made some changes to the product as a result. New Marlboro Snus includes smaller packaging that contains six pouches, down from 12 pouches, along with a larger pouch size, according to Phelps.
The Marlboro Snus test was previously expanded at the beginning of this year when it entered Phoenix. It also expanded in March 2008 to cover Indianapolis, where the company's initial snus product -- Taboka -- was tested in 2007, and later discontinued when the Marlboro-branded product entered the market.
Marlboro Snus -- a pouch product designed for adult smokers who are interested in smokeless products as an alternative to cigarettes -- is also currently in test market in Dallas.
Meanwhile, new Copenhagen Wintergreen moist smokeless tobacco, by Altria's U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. (USSTC), hit shelves nationwide last week, Phelps told CSNews Online. The 200-year-old brand is banking this new product on the popularity of the wintergreen flavor, which is largest in the MST segment, at 40 percent, he noted.
And Altria's John Middleton will roll out a no-tip cigarillo style of its Black & Mild cigar in the Southeast U.S. this month.
Another new product hits shelves early this month -- L&M Bold -- which is a full-flavor menthol cigarette. This new product was also mentioned by Szymanczyk at the Barclays conference.
Also in Altria's cigarette business, there are plans for two line extensions under the Marlboro Special Blend brand that will be available nationwide early next year, Phelps said. Two new flavors will be "based on the classic Marlboro flavor," he added.
Nov 6, 2009
Did man steal $11K in smokes?
BANTAM —A New Hartford man who allegedly stole more than $11,000 in cigarettes was arraigned in Bantam Superior Court Wednesday.
Robert Cockcroft, 20, 26 Bel Air Drive, was ordered held on $15,000 bond by Judge Daniel Shaban and scheduled to appear in Litchfield Superior Court on Nov. 17.
Cockcroft was arrested by New Milford police on Tuesday and charged with third-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.
A New Milford woman told police she thought it was odd that her friend Thomas Collier had 15 packs of cigarettes when she knew he didn’t smoke. He reportedly admitted to her that he climbed through the window on Oct. 22 with Cockcroft and took the items. He said no one would recognize him because he wore a hoodie and a bandana on his face but when he found out police wanted to talk to him, he left the state, according to the arrest warrant. New Milford police said a video camera recorded a man entering the store wearing similar clothing. Cockcroft may not have entered the store, but was also trying to sell packs of cigarettes on the green in New Milford for $5 a pack. “‘I do what I gotta do to get money’,” Cockcroft told one of his customers.
The owner of the store told police the burglar stole 11 cartons of Marlboro Ultra Lights, 85 cartons of Newport, 60 cartons of Marlboro, two cartons B&H deluxe king, four cartons of Parliament, two cartons of Dunhill, four cartons of American Spirit, five cartons of Virgina Slims, four cartons of Kool, a smoking hookah, 40 Dutch Masters cigars, 25 Green Game cigars. The total retail value of the stolen items is approximately $11,403, police said.
Robert Cockcroft, 20, 26 Bel Air Drive, was ordered held on $15,000 bond by Judge Daniel Shaban and scheduled to appear in Litchfield Superior Court on Nov. 17.
Cockcroft was arrested by New Milford police on Tuesday and charged with third-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.
A New Milford woman told police she thought it was odd that her friend Thomas Collier had 15 packs of cigarettes when she knew he didn’t smoke. He reportedly admitted to her that he climbed through the window on Oct. 22 with Cockcroft and took the items. He said no one would recognize him because he wore a hoodie and a bandana on his face but when he found out police wanted to talk to him, he left the state, according to the arrest warrant. New Milford police said a video camera recorded a man entering the store wearing similar clothing. Cockcroft may not have entered the store, but was also trying to sell packs of cigarettes on the green in New Milford for $5 a pack. “‘I do what I gotta do to get money’,” Cockcroft told one of his customers.
The owner of the store told police the burglar stole 11 cartons of Marlboro Ultra Lights, 85 cartons of Newport, 60 cartons of Marlboro, two cartons B&H deluxe king, four cartons of Parliament, two cartons of Dunhill, four cartons of American Spirit, five cartons of Virgina Slims, four cartons of Kool, a smoking hookah, 40 Dutch Masters cigars, 25 Green Game cigars. The total retail value of the stolen items is approximately $11,403, police said.
Nov 5, 2009
Man caught travelling with illegal cigarettes
A 24-year-old man from the U. S. side of Akwesasne, caught travelling on Hwy. 401 through Kingston shortly after 3 a. m. with a back seat full of illegal cigarettes, has been fined $11,050.
Matthew James Tarbell pleaded guilty in Kingston's Ontario Court of Justice to violating the Excise Act by possessing cigarettes without stamps to indicate that excise tax had been paid and to obstructing police by identifying himself with his brother's name.
Tarbell spent 13 days in jail before pleading guilty to the two offences and was ultimately sentenced to time served on the obstruction charge.
Federal Crown prosecutor David Crowe told Justice Rommel Masse that some erratic maneuvering on the highway, just west of the Division Street off-ramp on the morning of Oct. 16, initially attracted an officer's attention to the red Buick Tarbell was driving.
Tarbell disputes that claim but whatever first drew his attention to the car, Crowe told the judge the patrol officer subsequently noted its licence validation sticker had expired over a year earlier, on March 31, 2008. That gave him grounds to pull Tarbell over.
Crowe said Tarbell, when asked to identify himself, gave a name and New York State address that was only later learned to belong to his brother. His female passenger also misidentified herself.
While the officer was talking to Tarbell, however, Crowe said his attention was drawn to a pile of blankets and jackets in the back seat covering two large plastic bags. He told Masse that one of the plastic bags was torn and the officer could clearly see through the gap that it contained bags of loose cigarettes. He then arrested Tarbell for violating the Excise Act.
It was only while he was being booked on that charge, according to Crowe, that the lie underpinning his second offence was discovered. Tarbell was asked how old he was and responded to the booking sergeant that he was 23. The officer, however, looking at the birth date he'd provided, pointed out that it would have made him only 22.
Masse was told that when Tarbell's cargo was tallied, he was found to be transporting the equivalent of six cases of cigarettes, or 30 cartons of 200 cigarettes each. Crowe said Tarbell later told the RCMP that he'd anticipated receiving about $50 a case for a total of $300.
Ottawa lawyer Jeff Langevin, who represented Tarbell, told Masse that his client has no record and urged him "to be a bit creative here with your sentence."
Crowe, however, advised that this was not the first time Tarbell had been caught in Canada with a load of illegal smokes.
He was charged with the same thing in May, in Brockville, according to Crowe, and failed to show up for court there.
Crowe told Masse that he wasn't seeking more than the minimum fine under the Act, but argued that Tarbell was flaunting Canadian law, observing that he "lives in another country and chooses to come here and commit crimes."
In imposing the fine, Masse agreed that deterrence had to be a key component of his sentence.
"There's only one reason anyone would have that many cigarettes," he told Tarbell, "and that's the black market."
Matthew James Tarbell pleaded guilty in Kingston's Ontario Court of Justice to violating the Excise Act by possessing cigarettes without stamps to indicate that excise tax had been paid and to obstructing police by identifying himself with his brother's name.
Tarbell spent 13 days in jail before pleading guilty to the two offences and was ultimately sentenced to time served on the obstruction charge.
Federal Crown prosecutor David Crowe told Justice Rommel Masse that some erratic maneuvering on the highway, just west of the Division Street off-ramp on the morning of Oct. 16, initially attracted an officer's attention to the red Buick Tarbell was driving.
Tarbell disputes that claim but whatever first drew his attention to the car, Crowe told the judge the patrol officer subsequently noted its licence validation sticker had expired over a year earlier, on March 31, 2008. That gave him grounds to pull Tarbell over.
Crowe said Tarbell, when asked to identify himself, gave a name and New York State address that was only later learned to belong to his brother. His female passenger also misidentified herself.
While the officer was talking to Tarbell, however, Crowe said his attention was drawn to a pile of blankets and jackets in the back seat covering two large plastic bags. He told Masse that one of the plastic bags was torn and the officer could clearly see through the gap that it contained bags of loose cigarettes. He then arrested Tarbell for violating the Excise Act.
It was only while he was being booked on that charge, according to Crowe, that the lie underpinning his second offence was discovered. Tarbell was asked how old he was and responded to the booking sergeant that he was 23. The officer, however, looking at the birth date he'd provided, pointed out that it would have made him only 22.
Masse was told that when Tarbell's cargo was tallied, he was found to be transporting the equivalent of six cases of cigarettes, or 30 cartons of 200 cigarettes each. Crowe said Tarbell later told the RCMP that he'd anticipated receiving about $50 a case for a total of $300.
Ottawa lawyer Jeff Langevin, who represented Tarbell, told Masse that his client has no record and urged him "to be a bit creative here with your sentence."
Crowe, however, advised that this was not the first time Tarbell had been caught in Canada with a load of illegal smokes.
He was charged with the same thing in May, in Brockville, according to Crowe, and failed to show up for court there.
Crowe told Masse that he wasn't seeking more than the minimum fine under the Act, but argued that Tarbell was flaunting Canadian law, observing that he "lives in another country and chooses to come here and commit crimes."
In imposing the fine, Masse agreed that deterrence had to be a key component of his sentence.
"There's only one reason anyone would have that many cigarettes," he told Tarbell, "and that's the black market."
Nov 2, 2009
Tobacco Cessation Draws Audience to Tamarack
BECKLEY -- A variety of organizations are coming together to "Follow the Signs."
The Southern Coalfields African American Tobacco Prevention Network organized a training program to raise awareness about how tobacco affects the African American community. Groups came together Monday at Tamarack for an informational cessation session.
"The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars, first to target African Americans. They spend $35 million per day on marketing cigarettes in the United State. And a lot of that money is placed into the black community," West Region Director LaTanisha Wright said.
According to the National African American Tobacco Network, each year 47,000 blacks die from tobacco-related illnesses.
Additionally, the group says more African Americans die from lung cancer than any other race in the United States.
The Southern Coalfields African American Tobacco Prevention Network organized a training program to raise awareness about how tobacco affects the African American community. Groups came together Monday at Tamarack for an informational cessation session.
"The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars, first to target African Americans. They spend $35 million per day on marketing cigarettes in the United State. And a lot of that money is placed into the black community," West Region Director LaTanisha Wright said.
According to the National African American Tobacco Network, each year 47,000 blacks die from tobacco-related illnesses.
Additionally, the group says more African Americans die from lung cancer than any other race in the United States.
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