Turtle Talk

Here.

An excerpt:

An odd thing about the seizures, which have affected several native  manufacturers that are paying licensing fees to the federal government and to  the Mohawk tribal government, is that it is in conflict with a state tax  department memo. The memo comes up frequently in the HCI litigation and was  placed into the record in a separate tobacco arrest case. Written in July 2011  by the leader of the tax department’s criminal division, it specifically says  that untaxed native-made cigarettes bound for reservations in New York or  outside of New York should not be seized.

The memo is irrelevant, according to an assistant to Attorney General Eric  Schneiderman, who is defending the State Police in the case. “All cigarettes  within New York State are presumed to be subject to tax until the contrary is  established,” said Aaron  M. Baldwin, in a brief. He said that only a licensed cigarette agent can  possess untaxed cigarettes in New York and that agent must show proof of a legal  sale exempt from taxes. The brief suggests that HCI could resell the Signals to  customers in New York, thereby denying New York required taxes. The driver of  the seized Signals shipment told State Police that he often delivers cigarettes  from the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska to the Poospatuck reservation on Long  Island, according to court documents.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Indian-cigarette-chaos-3518771.php#ixzz1tWw72InS