A Surrey man has been fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to possession of tobacco for an unlawful purpose.
Talon Alexander Trask, 60, was one of three men facing eight tobacco-related charges in connection with possession of contraband tobacco linked to May 2021 events.
Federal prosecutor Jessica Saris told Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Andrea Brownstone the tax loss to the provincial government in the case was $841,998. She said the Ministry of Finance has estimated tobacco trafficking costs the province about $200 million per year in lost tax revenue.
Trask alone faced three charges. He pleaded guilty to possessing tobacco for an unlawful purpose in contravention of the Tobacco Tax Act.
A stay of proceedings was entered on another seven charges.
It was also alleged he possessed in Surrey more than a kilogram of tobacco in a package not bearing a stamp prescribed by the Tobacco Tax Act, and that he possessed in Surrey unstamped cigarettes in contravention of the excise tax.
Brownstone took his plea March 12 and heard a joint submission on sentencing to which she agreed.
The case involved B.C. Ministry of Finance investigators working under legislation about avoidance of excise tax and contraband tobacco products.
Brownstone heard boxes of tobacco had been coming to Vancouver and were being delivered to a U-Haul facility on Vancouver’s Southeast Marine Drive or to Abbotsford.
Trask and others were seen loading and unloading boxes at various times, the court heard.
Shipments would be picked up and then driven to a facility on the 3500-block of Vancouver’s East 5th Avenue.
All three men were seen on surveillance footage at that facility.
On May 21, 2021, investigators and police executed a search warrant for Trask’s home and truck. They found more than 208,000 grams of tobacco.
“What is aggravating, Brownstone said, “is the sheer amount of tobacco Mr. Trask was involved with.”
All told, investigators got more than 2.8 million grams.
Trask has already lost his $30,000 truck through civil forfeiture proceedings, what the court calls a collateral consequence to him.
In making the joint submission, Saris said the court could fine three times the amount seized or $2.525 million in addition to a straight $2,500 fine and other conditions.
Defence lawyer Casey Leggett detailed Trask’s poor financial condition and health and his Metis status, all things Brownstone factored into her decision.
“He was struggling financially,” Leggett said. “He was proposed this opportunity and unfortunately took it. It was desperate times that led to this unfortunate decision on his part.”
Trask was given five years to pay the fines and also given two years’ probation.
The other charges
All three men faced the following charges:
• possession in Vancouver of more than a kilogram of tobacco in a package not bearing a stamp prescribed by the Tobacco Tax Act.
• unlawful possession in Vancouver of unstamped cigarettes in contravention of the excise tax;
• two counts of acquiring tobacco in Vancouver for resale from a person without a dealer’s permit to see tobacco wholesale under the Tobacco Tax Act; and,
• unlawfully possessing, keeping or possessing tobacco for an unlawful purpose under the Tobacco Tax Act.
One of the other men is due in court on March 15.
