Community service for man caught with large stash of illegal cigarettes in Donegal

A man caught with a large stash of illegal cigarettes at his home in Ballybofey has been ordered to 160 hours of community service.

Arunas Stonys was before Letterkenny Circuit Court after Customs officials smoked him out when they detected a parcel bound for his address arriving into Ireland from Belarus in 2021.

A 54-year-old of Lawnsdale, Navenny, Ballybofey, Stonys pleaded guilty to a charge of evasion of excise duty, contrary to section 119 (2) of the Finance Act 2001 as amended.

The charge related to April 19, 2021 at Blue Cedars, Ballybofey, where Stonys was charged with being concerned in the evasion of a duty of excise on excusable products namely 9,000 cigarettes to the value of €6,292.80, with intent to defraud either directly or indirectly the State of such duty.

A charge of keeping tobacco products for sale or delivery that did not have the appropriate tax stamp affixed to the same, contrary to section 78 (3) and (5) of the Finance Act, 2005 as amended was marked as taken into consideration by the court. This related to an amount of 49,480 cigarettes.s

An inspector from the Revenue Commissioners outlined the matter to Ms Fiona Crawford BL, barrister for the State.

The court heard that a parcel arrived from Belarus in April, 2021 containing 9,000 cigarettes, which was bound for Stonys’ address in Ballybofey. Revenue officials undertook a controlled delivery some days later.

Following the delivery, a search warrant was obtained at the District Court and Revenue inspectors, along with a detector dog, Bill, arrived at Stonys’ home.

The dog sniffed out two brown boxes from under a bed and three boxes from under a desk, all of which contained cigarettes, while a quantity was also found in drawers. 

A total of 49,480 cigarettes of various brands were found and the total value of the narcotics was €34,596.41.

The court heard that the package of 9,000 cigarettes that arrived from Russia would be valued at €6,292.80, the value the good would be expected to reasonably fetch if they were sold on the open market.

The total loss to the State was placed at €27,621.95, including a loss of €6,469.25 of VAT and an amount of €21,152.70 relating to excise duty.

Stonys was cautioned and asked if he sold the cigarettes. He told investigators that he and his wife smoked them and that he sometimes passes them on, maybe charging €10 for a box.

He said that he did not intend to make a profit from the endeavour. Stonys told officers that he never intended this to be a business.

Mr Damien Crawford BL, barrister for Stonys, instructed by solicitor Mr Patsy Gallagher said that his client, a father-of-three, has a lengthy history of employment. 

Mr Crawford said that the cigarettes were sent by Stonys’ cousin, who intended to travel to Ireland looking for work and was looking to “curry favour” with Stonys. 

“This wasn’t a commercial operation,” Mr Crawford said. “It seems like an excessive amount, but there is a large amount of in-laws and extended family. Their smoking habits differ from what might be the norm here.”

Mr Crawford said that a probation report on Stonys was positive, although it inferred that his client does not have insight that there is a victim.

“He couldn’t comprehend what the problem was,” Mr Crawford said, adding that there is a “certain naivety” about his client, who is a Lithuanian national and who was aided by a translator in court.

Mr Crawford asked the court to consider that the matter was “nipped in the bud” at an early stage and did not proceed any further.

“He was somewhat bemused and did not comprehend,” Mr Crawford said. “He did not try to be evasive. This is his first time ever in front of the court for this type of material and it is highly unlikely that he will ever be again.”

Judge Aylmer said that it seems as if the case did not have the usual hallmarks of a commercial enterprise. 

He said there appeared no reason to doubt the explanation given by Stonys and that the cigarettes were intended for personal use and supply of a local Lithuanian community.

Judge Aylmer said the cost of the cigarettes in the country of origin would be a “small fraction of the cost in this jurisdiction”. 

Before considering mitigation, Judge Aylmer said the case merited a sentence of 12 months imprisonment.

Judge Aylmer noted that Stonys was fully cooperative and followed with an early guilty plea. He said that Stonys has been in Ireland since 2005 and has been a hard worker. He referenced a favourable probation report, which described the accused as being of a low risk of reoffending.

The judge was, therefore, satisfied that the case could be appropriately dealt with by way of community service rather than a custodial sentence.

Judge Aylmer sentenced Stonys to 160 hours of community service in lieu of an eight-month prison sentence.

Stonys was given 12 months to perform the community service. A forfeiture and destruction order was made in respect of the cigarettes.