Two Quebec Men Sentenced – $1.2M in Fines Issued For 'Contraband' Cigarettes

Two Quebecers are facing prison time, and a total of nine people from Quebec, Ontario and Kahnawake were fined over $1.2 million for contraband tobacco smuggling offences, Revenu Quebec reports.

A news release from the provincial revenue agency says that the nine individuals were accused of selling, delivering or possessing what Quebec considers contraband tobacco intended for resale in packaging, “which was not identified in accordance with the Tobacco Tax Act.”

Victoris Gignac, 75, of Farnham, Que. was sentenced to 60 days in jail and fined $40,000 after 6,800 contraband cigarettes were seized after a Dec. 14, 2021 raid on his property. He pleaded guilty to charges and was sentenced in April.

Michel Beauchamp, 66, of Saint-Jerome, Que. was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $138,650 after an August 2020 investigation found that he was selling cigarettes he obtained in Kanesatake. A raid of his property in November of that year resulted in 14,000 cigarettes being seized.

Beauchamp has been convicted seven times of similar offences, Revenu Quebec said.

The remainder of the $1,234,488.37 in fines were handed out to the following individuals, who were not sentenced to any jail time:

$363,600 - Stuart Myiow, 60, from Kahnawake, Que. (arrested Dec. 3, 2020, 600,000 cigarettes seized)

$363,600 - Marie-Claude Lacroix, 49, from Saint-Henri-de-Levis, Que. (arrested Dec. 3, 2020, 600,000 cigarettes seized)

$59,038 - Michael William Moxon, 28, from Cornwall, Ont. (arrested Oct. 2, 2021, 396 Kg. of tobacco seized)

$59,038 - Donovan H. Daniel Pelkey-Laughing, 28, from St. Andrews West, Ont. (arrested Oct. 2, 2021, 396 Kg. of tobacco seized)

$93,930 - Alain Kachafanas, 66, from Trois-Rivières, Que. (arrested Feb. 18, 2022, 36,000 cigarettes seized)

$66,539 - Michael Durand, 46, from Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, Que. (arrested Sept. 9, 2021, 74,500 cigarettes seized)

$50,092.08 - Daniel Roy, 75, from Longueuil, Que. (arrested April 7, 2021, 74,000 cigarettes seized)