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Tax free Marlboro cigarettes $ 11.90
Special agents from
the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement Unit
worked with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department during the Fond du Lac
County Fair to arrest two people involved in the sale of illegal cigarettes.
The two individuals were found selling untaxed cigarettes they had purchased
in Kentucky, according to a Wisconsin Department of Revenue press release. Both
individuals sold the cigarettes to undercover agents. One of the individuals was
selling the cigarettes on and near the midway of the Fairgrounds, and the other
was a vendor at the Fair.
One of the sellers had a supply of untaxed Kentucky cigarettes and Wisconsin
Tribal taxed cigarettes in the trunk of his car, according to the press release.
The other said he obtained the cigarettes by placing an order on the Internet.
In both cases, agents seized the cigarettes. Both suspects remain free, but
criminal charges of possessing illegal untaxed cigarettes and selling cigarettes
without a license are pending in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court.
Possession and sale of untaxed cigarettes has been a growing problem in
Wisconsin during the past several years, said Barbara Brandt, chief of the
Criminal Investigation section of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Brandt
said that many times, such illegal sales involve the sale of cigarettes to
underage individuals, failure to report sales and income tax, and the sale of
unapproved brands of cigarettes.
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bill Tadych said he was not aware
that illegally selling cigarettes had ever been a problem at the Fair
before.