A Centre-du-Québec resident who was caught with a large quantity of contraband cigarettes three times in a matter of months is being sentenced to nine months in prison for apparently failing to comply with the $260,000 in fines he previously received were he should stop.
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69-year-old Michel Chauvette was targeted by police in August 2021 as information from sources and multiple surveillance linked him to cigarette smuggling.
Through search warrants at his home in Lemieux, in the MRC of Bécancour, and in his vehicle, officers were then able to seize $445 and a small quantity of cigarettes.
During his meeting with police, Chauvette admitted to selling 160 cartons of cigarettes at a price of $30 each between April and August 2021.
However, this search and these confessions did not force him to stop smuggling cigarettes.
In fact, the police intercepted the perpetrator while driving a friend’s vehicle in December 2021 and revoked his driver’s license.
Then they saw boxes with the logos “Discount” and “Premium Class Cigarettes,” which usually contained contraband cigarettes. A total of 26,800 cigarettes were found in the vehicle.
Chauvette told police he would be paid $500 for transporting that cargo the 70km route between Drummondville and Princeville, according to the verdict handed down this week at the Victoriaville courthouse.
On May 19, 2022, Michel Chauvette was stopped again in a vehicle that did not belong to him, even though his license was sanctioned. Worse still: the vehicle will then be banned from driving.
“When the defendant opened the rear trunk of the car, the police officer noticed the presence of packets of tobacco. “It also smells strongly of cannabis,” explains Justice of the Peace Ghislain Lavigne, stating that 600 contraband cigarettes were confiscated.
Chauvette admitted to police that “these cigarettes are for resale,” they say.
Multiple convictions
However, this was not Michel Chauvette’s first cigarette smuggling escapades: between 2021 and 2022, he was fined more than $261,000 in three cases. In total, more than 250,000 cigarettes were confiscated.
However, the Journal could not confirm whether he had paid the amounts in full or in part.
Judge Lavigne, who described Chauvette as a “repeat offender,” therefore insisted on sending him behind bars, even if it was an exceptional measure in such cases.
Since the crimes committed are punishable under the Tobacco Tax Act, they are not criminal offenses.
“To fulfill the purpose of deterrence, a prison sentence of a considerable length is necessary, as the previous fines have had no influence on the defendant’s behavior,” said the judge.
He therefore sentenced Michel Chauvette to nine months in prison, a fine of $107,000 and the suspension of his driver’s license for nine months once he is released.