Four people have received jail terms and fines totalling $301,825 after being convicted of offences under the Tobacco Tax Act.

The following individuals were found guilty at the Cornwall Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Division on December 11, 2008 of charges laid by Ministry of Revenues Special Investigations Branch:

• Leland Herne was found guilty of possession of 400,000 unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale. The charge was laid following an incident on July 26, 2007, when the OPP stopped a vehicle on Highway 401 and found the unmarked cigarettes. Herne received a four-month jail sentence, was fined $148,700 and must also pay a $37,175 surcharge to the Victims Justice Fund.
• Brian Goolab and Jamie Chase were sentenced to three months in jail and each was fined $93,125 after being found guilty of possession of unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale. OPP found 250,000 unmarked cigarettes when they stopped a vehicle on November 14, 2007 on Highway 401. Both Goolab and Chase must each also pay a $23,281 surcharge to the Victims Justice Fund.
• Thomas Quinn pleaded guilty to possession of 299,000 unmarked cigarettes for the purpose of sale. Quinn tried to escape OPP and did not stop his vehicle until boxed in by police cruisers. Police then found the unmarked cigarettes. Quinn was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $60,000. He must also pay a $15,000 surcharge to the Victims Justice Fund.

In all three cases, the cigarettes were seized and later forfeited to the province.

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 the ministry to share intelligence information with police and other agencies that enforce tobacco-related laws. Through steps taken in four of the last five Ontario Budgets, the government has strengthened enforcement against the illegal manufacture and sale of tobacco products. In Ontario over the past two years, approximately 58.1 million contraband cigarettes have been seized by ministry investigators and inspectors.