Wicomico
County
Business
Busted For
Illegal
Cigarette
Sale
Annapolis,
MD (June 15,
2007) -
Agents for
Comptroller
Peter
Franchot
yesterday
confiscated
over 1300
packs of
illegal
cigarettes
along with
almost 2000
packages of
Other
Tobacco
Products
(OTP) from a
Wicomico
County
business. At
12:04 p.m.,
agents
executed a
search and
seizure
warrant at
PITCO Fuel
and Food,
located at
834 East
Main Street,
in
Salisbury.
Agents found
the business
selling
cigarettes
without the
required
license as
well as
possessing
OTP without
registration.
"The
Comptroller's
Office does
not tolerate
illegal
operators
who break
the law and
hurt other
local,
law-abiding
businesses,"
said
Comptroller
Franchot.
"My agents
will
continue to
enforce
Maryland's
tobacco laws
to protect
those who
operate
properly."
The bust
resulted
from a
month-long
investigation
of the
business
whose
owner/operator
had been
previously
warned to
cease the
sale of
cigarettes
and ordered
to
immediately
obtain a
cigarette
license.
Comptroller
agents,
working
undercover,
went back to
the business
and once
again
purchased
cigarettes
while the
business
remained
unlicensed.
Yesterday's
warrant
serving
netted 1,310
packs of
illegal
cigarettes.
In addition
to
cigarettes,
agents
discovered
and
confiscated
a total of
1,972
packages of
OTP for
which no
invoice or
registration
could be
produced.
The
business
owner/operator,
Teryl Lynn
Dryden, 49,
of Allen,
Md. faces
charges of
unlawfully
selling
cigarettes
without the
required
license in
addition to
doing
business
without the
required
trader's
license. The
penalty for
selling
cigarettes
without a
license is a
$1,000 fine
and/or 30
days in jail
while
businesses
found
operating
without a
trader's
license are
subject to a
$300 fine
and/or 30
days in
jail. Both
violations
are
misdemeanors.
Charges
involving
the OTP
products are
pending.
So far in
fiscal year
2007, the
Comptroller's
enforcement
agents have
charged 62
individuals
with tobacco
violations
and have
confiscated
a total of
59,086 packs
of
cigarettes
with an
estimated
value of
approximately
$238,984.94.
