AG James secures $6M judgment against unlicensed cannabis store

From Brooklyneagle.com
By Brooklyn Eagle Staff

New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a $6 million judgment against the owner of Big Chief Smoke Shop (Big Chief), an un- licensed cannabis store in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Big Chief sold cannabis for more than a year without a license and ignored re- peated orders by the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and other law enforcement authorities to stop operating without a license. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and OCM obtained a judicial closing order that shut down Big Chief in December 2023.

This judgment requires Big Chief’s owner to pay nearly $5.9 million in penal- ties for selling cannabis without a license and continuing to do so after being ordered by OCM to stop, $121,000 in disgorgement of illegal profits, and $44K in costs and attorney’s fees.

“Rules and regulations, especially over the cannabis industry, are designed to protect New York consumers and keep neighborhoods safe,” said Attorney General James. “Big Chief Smoke Shop ignored

repeated warnings to stop operating with- out a license and instead they kept their doors open, putting New Yorkers at risk. My office secured a $6 million judgment against the owners of Big Chief Smoke

Shop for brazenly violating the law and disrupting the local community.”

“New Yorkers need and expect a safe, regulated cannabis market where business owners play by the rules,” said State Sen. Andrew Gounardes. “By repeatedly re- fusing to do the right thing, Big Chief did an immense disservice to our community in Bay Ridge and to all the licensed re- tailers operating in New York.”

“Of all the unlicensed cannabis opera- tors who worked to undermine the rollout of the legalized cannabis industry in New York, Big Chief was one of the worst bad actors I’ve seen,” said City Councilmem- ber Justin Brannan. “Beyond endangering their customers and our community by selling untaxed, unregulated, and illegal products, they were bad neighbors who hosted illegal activity, frequently trashed

the area outside their premises, and blatantly mocked and provoked residents, elected officials, and law enforcement in the press.

“People in Bay Ridge took notice — Big Chief was certainly not the only illegal cannabis store in our neighborhood, but they generated more complaints to my office, in the one-plus year they were open, than any other single legal or illegal establishment in my district since I took office in 2018,” he said.

New York’s Cannabis Law requires any person who cultivates, processes, or sells any cannabis product to be registered and licensed by the New York State Cannabis Control Board. The law imposes a penalty of up to $10,000 for each day an individual sells cannabis without a license, and a penalty of up to $20,000 for each day an individual continues to sell cannabis after receiving an order to cease operating from OCM. Additional revenue-based civil penalties may also be imposed based on the amount of the unlicensed sales.