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Danville man faces charges for having unstamped cigarettes

Wed, 05/11/2011 - 9:00am | The News-Gazette

DANVILLE — A Danville man was arrested for possession and sale of unstamped cigarettes.

Kenneth R. McQueen, 64, who listed an address in Danville, was arrested on April 28 following a six-week investigation by the Illinois Department of Revenue Criminal Investigations/Tax Enforcement Division, with help from the Vermilion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.

McQueen is scheduled to make a court appearance in Vermilion County on June 8.

According to an Illinois Department of Revenue report, agents executed a search warrant at McQueen's home and seized 88 cartons containing 880 packs of unstamped cigarettes, including many brought in from out of state to allegedly avoid paying the Illinois state cigarette tax.

The tax on one pack of cigarettes is 98 cents in Illinois and 17 cents in Missouri.

The report said the Vermilion County state's attorney's office and the Vermilion County sheriff's office also assisted. The Illinois attorney general's office will prosecute the case.

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Joe American wrote on May 11, 2011 at 11:05 am

Another example of far-reaching and ridiculous government intrusion in our lives. At $0.98 per pack, a whopping $862.40 was not paid in taxes. But how many tens or hundreds of thousands of OUR tax dollars went into the investigation and will go into the subsequent prosecution?

tigersy2k3 wrote on May 11, 2011 at 4:05 pm

Right, why have laws, law enforcement, or a judicial system anyways? I would imagine if someone stole $862.00 off of you personally you wouldnt mind a 6-week investigation to find the person who stole from you. Its a crime, he is a criminal. I highly doubt they had 3-4 guys on this case 24 hours a day for 6 weeks like you are wanting to portray.

some_mascot wrote on May 11, 2011 at 12:05 pm

Ok... so the state spends six weeks and several thousand dollars chasing several hundred dollars to prove a very weak point about tax evasion... But what happened to all the cigarettes?

ConeyPayton wrote on May 11, 2011 at 5:05 pm

Tax money well spent I say. We need more of this incredibly frivolous spending and prosecuting.

yates wrote on May 11, 2011 at 7:05 pm

This state is beyond sad. Run off all our industries and businesses with high taxes, then bust cigarette pedelers to make up the shortfall. Progressive thinking at it's best.

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