Cigarette smuggling brings $5,000 fine

A man smoked out by border officials with five cartons of undeclared cigarettes was smacked with a $5,000 fine Wednesday.
It was the fifth time 48-year-old Janusz Gorecki of Mississauga was caught attempting to smuggle goods into the country.
“That you would take this risk time and again is very surprising,” said Judge Joseph Nadel, in St. Catharines court Wednesday.
Federal prosecutor Darren Anger said the commercial truck driver was crossing the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge on Feb. 27 when customs officials ran his name and found he’d been subject to previous seizures.
They searched the truck and found five cartons of cigarettes in the well of the cab behind fridge unit.
Anger said Gorecki told officials the cigarettes were for himself and he could only buy the brand from Smokin’ Joes.
By hiding the cartons, he attempted to evade $215.51 in taxes.
The joint submission for a $5,000 fine was to deter Gorecki and others from smuggling, Anger said.
Gorecki was convicted and fined $2,700 in February 2007 while the other three prior incidents involved seizures only.
The judge said he felt bad for imposing such a large fine for a paltry offence but added it was Gorecki’s fifth attempt at smuggling.
“Prior lesser sentences have failed to deter you,” Nadel said.