Office of the State Treasurer

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Golden
February 20, 2004
(609) 984-7110
Taxation Agents and Municipal Police Arrest Cigarette Trafficker
 TRENTON — The New Jersey Department of the Treasury has announced the arrest of Dennis John Fetterman of Williamsburg, Va., on charges related to the possession and transportation of contraband cigarettes.

 Special agents from the State Division of Taxation’s Office of Criminal Investigation and Montville, N.J., police officers followed Fetterman, who was suspected of selling untaxed Virginia-stamped cigarettes, to an auto dealership in Parsippany, N.J., where local police joined the investigation. An arrest was made after Fetterman removed several cartons of cigarettes from his vehicle and carried them inside the dealership. Fetterman then agreed to allow a search of his vehicle, where 45 cartons of Virginia-stamped cigarettes were discovered. That inspection also revealed a small amount of marijuana in the vehicle’s center console.

 The initial charges against Fetterman included possession and transportation of untaxed cigarettes, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, failure to keep records, and operating without a consumer’s license. Fetterman posted the $10,000 cash bail set by Judge Anthony Frese of Parsippany-Troy Hills Municipal Court.

 “Enforcement of the Cigarette Tax Act is one of our highest priorities,” said Robert K. Thompson, director of the Division of Taxation. “We will continue to find and prosecute criminals who think they can make an easy profit in New Jersey from illegal trafficking of cigarettes.”

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