The Lake Side Trading stores in Union Springs and Seneca Falls remained open after Seneca and Cayuga county authorities seized nearly 18,000 cartons of cigarettes in a November 25 [image-nocss] raid. County officials said the stores were violating state law by selling cigarettes without charging the required tax and owed $485,000 in state excise taxes.
The Cayugas claim they are exempt from collecting the taxes because their businesses are protected by their sovereign nation status. The tribe contends its stores are located on ancestral land that is part of its land claim against New York state.
On Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Fisher ruled that the nation does not have sovereign rights to sell untaxed cigarettes. The nation has been selling tax-free tobacco products since opening its stores about four years ago.
Fisher's decision also opened the possibility for criminal tax-evasion charges in the case and district attorneys in both counties said this week they were going to present their individual cases to grand juries for review.
Meanwhile, French said the nation would take legal action to overturn Fisher's ruling, which he said "interprets well-established Indian law in a way no one contemplated or expected."
Until then, the stores will remain closed. About 30 employees are affected, he said.
Motorists pulling into the c-store lot today found highway cones, barrels and yellow tape barring access to the gas pumps. The store lights were off.
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