Two men from Maspeth and Middle Village face serious jail time for having more than 900,000 illegal cigarettes in their possession, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced.
Brown identified the defendants as Ling F. Shi, 27, of 52nd Road in Maspeth, and He M. Wang, 46, of Dry Harbor Road in Middle Village.
According to Brown, police executed a court-ordered search warrant on Monday, May 16, on a house located at 90-47 51st Ave. in Elmhurst where they allegedly found more than 3,594 cartons of cigarettes, containing more than 700,000 individual cigarettes, in the basement. Another court-authorized search warrant issued for a 2015 Honda registered to Shi allegedly uncovered roughly 150 cartons that contained more than 30,000 individual cigarettes, along with receipts for two storage units at the Stop and Stor facility at 74-04 Grand Ave.
A third court-authorized search warrant found 62 cartons containing 12,400 individual cigarettes from one storage bin and another 1,094 cartons containing 218,800 from the second bin.
None of the cigarettes seized from the house, car or storage facility were in packs that had a New York State cigarette tax stamp.
“The illegal sale of untaxed cigarettes is a million-dollar industry — a business venture that cheats the city and state out of much-needed revenue. Schemes like the one alleged here mean every taxpayer must dig deeper to pay higher taxes,” Brown said. “Each stamp on a legal pack of cigarettes represents both excise and sales tax that would have been paid to both New York State and New York City. The cigarettes allegedly seized in this case did not have the proper tax stamp.”
Shi and Wang were both arraigned on Tuesday, May 17, before Queens Criminal Court Judge Althea Drysdale and charged with violating the state’s cigarette and tobacco products tax law and fifth-degree conspiracy.
Both defendants were released on their own recognizance. They are due to return to court on June 7, 2016. If convicted, the defendants face up to seven years in prison.
