National Post ePaper

Life goes up in smoke

Man surprised by $864Gs in fines for peddling illegal cigarettes

MARK BONOKOSKI markbonokoski@gmail.com @MarkBonokoski

Ian Lee Naling, a 36-yearold father of two, was the assistant manager of a Hamilton convenience store and had the key to a truck paid for by his boss.

To many, he had it made — until it seemed he wanted more.

On Nov. 14, 2019, members of the Cornwall Regional Task Force on a special surveillance detail noticed a rented cube van being loaded to the hilt with 7,000 cartons of cigarettes, which were then transferred to an offreserve warehouse close to Six Nations Territory that was subsequently raided.

Naling’s biggest surprise, however, would come later when he was hit with a fine of more than $864,000.

During the sentencing portion of the trial, Naling’s lawyer, Bode Odetoyinbo, said the judgment would inflict “serious consequences on his client’s life for many, many years to come.”

“He appears to be a foot soldier who had one interaction and didn’t know the full ramifications of what would happen,” he told Justice Robert Gee. “So, I ask that you temper justice. He’s throwing himself at the mercy of the court.”

Crown attorney Andrew Falls asked the judge to levy the “maximum sentence” to deter both Naling and others who traffic in contraband cigarettes.

The Tobacco Tax Act links fines directly to the quantity of seized cigarettes, reflecting the amount of tax that would have been lost if the illegal cigarettes had been sold.

The amount of sales tax that would have been lost in this case if the contraband cigarettes were sold legitimately would have been around $110 per carton.

Falls calculated the total that would have been lost in taxes at $775,450.

“The last thing we want to do,” said Falls, “was to make this kind of activity possible.”

Odetoyinbo said his client would never be able to pay off such a fine on his limited income.

“He’s extremely remorseful as to how he got caught up in this incident,” Odetoyinbo said. “And (he) informs me things hadn’t been going well and he allowed his judgment to be mentally clouded.”

The judge noted that, according to financial statements filed with the court, Naling was living rent-free in a home owned by his uncle and was driving a leased 2020 Dodge Ram paid for by his convenience store boss since it was used for work.

But Odetoyinbo said Naling’s own vehicles are old and require thousands of dollars in repairs.

He said his client had already been fined $832,721 in civil court and Ontario’s Ministry of Finance has begun the process of garnisheeing Naling’s wages and put liens against his vehicles.

“What are you going to do about that?” the judge asked Naling.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I definitely cannot afford to pay $800,000.”

Gee acknowledged that Naling was a go-between and wasn’t the one getting the bulk of any profit from the deal.

“It you were taken advantage of, I would hope you have the fortitude to not allow that to happen again and to make better choices for your family and yourself so you don’t wind up in this situation again,” Gee told Naling.

Gee fined Naling $5,000 for possession of unstamped tobacco but said the minimum fine of $776,000 required by law for possession of unmarked tobacco for sale is too “crushing.”

The judge reduced that fine to $20,000 with automatic surcharges of $5,000 and $1,500.

Once all the arithmetic was done, Naling was left owing a total of $864,221.

It had been a rough day in court.

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2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nationalpost.pressreader.com/article/282020445436778

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