Schenectady man charged with possessing untaxed cigars, cigarettes

PHOTOGRAPHER:

A state Department of Taxation and Finance photo shows tobacco products seized from a Schenectady man Nov. 30, 2021.

TROY — State tax agents this week seized thousands of untaxed cigars and cigarettes and arrested the Schenectady man they say possessed them.

The state Department of Taxation and Finance said Friday that Derrick Hill faces one count each of possession of unstamped or unlawfully stamped cigarettes for the purpose of sale and possession of 2,500 or more untaxed cigars. Both are misdemeanors.

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The agency said tax investigators making a routine retail inspection on Tuesday spotted Hill trying to sell more than 3,500 cigars and 1,000 cigarettes to a clerk at a convenience store on Fifth Avenue in Troy.

Most of the material was still outside, in the vehicle Hill was using. The five cartons of cigarettes bore Virginia tax stamps.

The agency said in a news release that Hill lacks the license needed to make wholesale transactions of tobacco products and told the investigators the cigars and cigarettes belonged to him.