$11M fine for North Okanagan man caught with 1.5 million illegal cigarettes

A North Okanagan man is on the hook $11 million after police found 1.5 million illegal cigarettes in his truck and trailer.

On top of the hefty fine he’ll also spend one month under house arrest.

At the Vernon court July 2, David Thomas Freel pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing tobacco for an unlawful purpose.

The case dates back to January 2023 when the 48-year-old was stopped by RCMP because of a broken tail light. The officer noticed a lot of cigarettes in the back of his truck.

The vehicle was searched and uncovered 155 master cases of unstamped cigarettes. Each master case contained 10,000 cigarettes.

Cops also found $4,600 in cash in the vehicle.

Freel sat in the courtroom with his girlfriend as the Crown read off a list of the illegal tobacco seized.

“There were 25 master cases of Canadian Light cigarettes, 15 master cases of Canadian Full-Flavour, 14 master cases of Canadian Menthol, one master case of Canadian Classic, four master cases of BB Full-Flavour, five master cases of BB Light, 14 master cases of PlayFare full-flavour, 15 master cases of PlayFare light. Two master cases of Nexus Full-Flavour, five master cases of Nexus Light, 22 master cases of Rolled Gold Full-Flavour, 33 master cases of Rolled Gold Light, 44 cartons of McDonald’s cigarettes, 2 cartons of Peach Primetime cigars,” Crown prosecutor Margaret Cissell told the court.

In total, there were 155 master cases of cigarettes plus 46 loose cartons, totalling more than 1,559,000 individual cigarettes.

There was no dollar figure given as to how much the cigarettes were worth, but many of the brands seized are available from the website Native Smokes Canada and sell for $50 a carton of 200 cigarettes. Based on those prices, the cigarettes found in Freel’s truck were worth almost $400,000 at retail, without tax.

The court heard the tobacco was “unstamped” and Freel had been ordered to pay the tax that would have been collected by the government.

He was ordered to pay more than $11 million, which with interest now stands at $15.9 million. He also owes Provincial Sales Tax at about $900,000.

Unsurprisingly, the court heard that he couldn’t pay the “overwhelming” fines.

The court heard the 48-year-old lived with his girlfriend and their joint family of five children and was fighting a second round of cancer.

He worked maintaining the 25-acre property for an elderly property owner, who gave him cheap rent and allowed him to build a house on the property in the Salmon River Road area. He described the house as being in the current state of “Tyvek chic.”

The Crown prosecutor told the court there were some “Charter issues” concerning the stop and seizure of the tobacco by police, although they gave no details of what the RCMP may have done wrong.

Freel had been facing more charges of selling illegal tobacco, selling unstamped tobacco and driving without a license, however, because of the possible Charter issues those charges were stayed, and lawyers made a plea deal.

In a joint submission, lawyers asked for one month of house arrest, followed by nine months’ probation.

During the court proceedings, there was no mention of where the tobacco came from or who Freel was going to sell it to.

Outside the courtroom he refused to answer when asked where he got and where it was going.

With the exception of a couple of drunk driving infractions dating back 20 years, Freel doesn’t have a criminal record.

In addressing the court, he said he was remorseful.

“I just want to put everything behind me and focus on my health,” Freel told the court. “Try and stay alive a little longer… enjoy my property, my kids, my animals.”

BC Provincial Court Judge George Leven accepted the joint submission for a month house arrest followed by probation.

The judge accepted that the huge financial penalties were adequate denunciation and deterrence.

“The amount of tobacco here is something that is not often seen,” the judge told the court.