SEATTLE — An American Indian from New York pleaded not guilty in federal court in Seattle on Friday to charges that he lied five times about his involvement with the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop in Arlington.
Arthur “Sugar” Montour, 37, of Perrysburg, N.Y., told U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler that he’s not guilty of lying about circumstances surrounding the sales of untaxed and smuggled cigarettes to the smoke shop, which was owned and operated between 2003 and 2008 by Stillaguamish tribal leaders.
Montour is owner of Native Wholesale Supply, a wholesale tobacco company that imports products from Canada and distributes them throughout the United States. Native Wholesale Supply operates under the laws of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, but is located on Seneca Nation land in upstate New York.
Montour pleaded not guilty to the same charges in a federal court in Buffalo, N.Y., last week.
A Seattle grand jury late last month indicted him on five counts of false declaration. Those charges carry punishments of up to five years in prison per charge and up to three years of supervised release per charge. Montour also faces a possible fine of $250,000.
“These charges are totally misguided,” said Angelo Calfo, Montour’s attorney. “Sugar’s going to defend them and he’ll prove that he’s innocent.”
A trial is scheduled to begin in September.
Montour is also the target of a federal criminal investigation dealing with his tobacco company, Calfo said. The charges Montour answered on Friday were in connection with a civil forfeiture claim in which the federal government attempting to seize $50,000, the estimated revenue from the sale of the cigarettes Montour allegedly sold to the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop.
Calfo on Friday argued for Theiler to loosen restrictions suggested by federal prosecutors to keep tabs on Montour until the trial. Those restrictions include a $5,000 cap on money transfers, and regular reports of his financial activities.
Calfo argued that Montour’s company regularly engages in transactions of more than $5,000, and that imposing a requirement that he get permission from a federal officer before conducting business would be burdensome on Montour and the government.
Montour turned himself in to the court in New York, Calfo said. That’s not the sign of someone who plans to pool resources and leave the country, he said.
Theiler agreed to a loosened version of the financial updates.
Assistant U.S. attorney Mary Dimke said Montour is a flight risk. He is associated with tribes that have reservations that overlap the U.S.-Canada border, and Indians there are able to cross without passports, she said. Montour was born in Canada, and has significant family and business ties there.
He claims his citizenship is “North American,” and does not specify whether he is from the U.S. or Canada, Calfo said.
Dimke said Montour also failed to report to the federal government some large transactions. He claimed that he makes $250,000 a year, she said, but within just a few weeks’ time spent $400,000 at a Lamborghini dealership, $100,000 at a GMC dealership and $35,000 at a Hummer dealership.
Those purchases were for “sweepstakes” offered by Native Wholesale Supply to its customers, Calfo said.
Dimke also noted that Native Wholesale Supply received $330 million in cigarettes from Grand River Enterprises, a tobacco manufacturer on tribal land in Canada with close ties to Montour.
Montour has been the target of dozens of civil lawsuits across the country, Dimke said.
He, along with the owners of Grand River Enterprises, also sued the federal government for up to $664 million in damages they say resulted from a federal agreement with a few large tobacco companies. They’re arguing that the agreement violates the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The tribal smoke shop in Arlington has a troubled past. Stormmy Paul, a Tulalip tribal member who owned the shop between 2001 and 2003, said last week that he bought cigarettes from Native Wholesale Supply.
Paul pleaded guilty in 2006 to cigarette smuggling.
Ed Goodridge, his son Eddie Goodridge, his wife Linda Goodridge and cousin Sara Schroedl forced Paul out of the smoke shop and took it over in 2003. Both Goodridge men and Schroedl are all former tribal leaders. The trio are now serving federal prison terms.
The Stillaguamish Tribe is cooperating with the federal government in an ongoing investigation into the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop and other activities conducted while the Goodridges led the tribe. The tribe now owns and operates the smoke shop, which is now called Stilly Smoke Signals.
Krista Kapralos: 425-339-3422, kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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