GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) -- A West Coast man who operates Smokin J's tobacco store near downtown Grand Rapids faces felony charges following a raid that netted untaxed cigars and counterfeit pipes bearing trademark logos of the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.John William Fratt, 42, is scheduled to appear in Grand Rapids District Court next week on charges of selling counterfeit products and state tobacco tax violations at his store on South Division Avenue near Oakes Street.
Fratt, who lives in Longview, Wash., operates four Smokin J's outlets in the Evergreen State.Sgt. Karl Schmitz, a detective with the Michigan State Police Tobacco Tax Enforcement Team, said Fratt bought tobacco for his store over the Internet to avoid paying sales taxes. State inspectors also seized glass smoking pipes that were not licensed to bear the logos of professional sports teams, Schmitz said.
"He owns the store so we had the Washington authorities talk to him,'' Schmitz said. "After the warrant was issued, we called him and he agreed to meet us and we booked him in.''The haul included several hundred hookah products used in glass smoking pipes, nearly 90 packs of cigarettes, 44 packs of cigars, 68 cyclone tubes commonly known as "blunts,'' and pipe tobacco.
Fratt was booked into the Kent County Jail last Wednesday and has been released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond. Tobacco products tax violations and delivery of counterfeit products are felonies punishable by up to five years in prison.The state police tobacco inspection team, based out of Rockford, covers 14 West Michigan counties. "Our goal is to go every establishment that sells tobacco products,'' Schmitz said. "We've been doing it full-time for two years and are not even half-way done.''
There are 459 licensed tobacco dealers operating in Kent County, he said.
Under Michigan law, businesses must obtain tobacco products from a state-approved wholesaler. The state collects a 32 percent tax on the wholesale price of most tobacco products, including Hookah supplies, before it hits the shelves.During the last fiscal year which ended Sept. 30, Michigan State Police Tobacco Tax Enforcement Teams visited more than 2,000 tobacco retailers statewide and seized nearly $446,000 in bootleg tobacco products along with $1.2 million in non-tobacco products, typically knock-off brands of clothing and other consumer goods.Violations were found at nearly 20 percent of the businesses visited, according to the unit's annual report.Violators included a tanning salon in Greenville where 536 counterfeit items, including designer purses, were seized in June. The bootleg items had a value of $33,000.
Nearly $29,000 in counterfeit headphones, perfume, belts and purses were seized at a flea market in Howard City in September.Federal officials estimate counterfeit goods cost the U.S. economy $200 billion annually in lost revenue. Jobs lost to counterfeit goods is about 750,000.Police are finding fake products such as Nike, Gucci and Timberland shoes, Coach, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton purses and clothing lines from Burberry, Ralph Lauren and The North Face. These knock-off products are smuggled into the U.S. unregulated, with nearly 80 percent coming from China, according to U.S. Customs officials.
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