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NY Post
New York Post
18 Jul 2023


NextImg:Owner of nearly a dozen illegal NYC pot shops will fork over $400K: prosecutors

The owner of nearly a dozen illegal pot shops has agreed to fork over more than $400,000 in a deal struck with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Rami Alzandani will pay $103,000 in restitution to the state Department of Tax and Finance and forfeit another $300,000 in ill-gotten gains as part of the non-prosecution agreement he signed with prosecutors over his 11 shops accused of illegally selling weed in Manhattan and Queens, the DA’s Office said.

Four of his shops pleaded guilty to cannabis possession charges and paid $5,000 in fines. These stores include: Jacks Convenience on Broadway on the Upper West Side; On the Rocks Convenience on West 48th Street in the Diamond District; West Coast Convenience on West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side; and Jeeters Convenience on Eight Avenue in Midtown West.

Alzandani’s stores were busted when undercover investigators with the DA’s Office made purchases there, prosecutors there.

The shops are allowed to remain in business, but are banned from selling weed going forward and will be subject to random inspections for the next three years, under the terms of the agreement.

The stores must also attest to the fact they aren’t dealing the drug in a written certification every three months. Alzandani also can’t sell any of his stores without getting approval first, according to the agreement.

The owner of 11 alleged illegal pot shops has agreed to pay $400,000 as part of a non-prosecution agreement with the District Attorney’s Office.
Yelp

On The Rocks.

Rami Alzandani entered into the agreement after 11 of his stores in Manhattan and Queens were accused of illegally selling pot.
Yelp

“Cannabis legalization in New York State was designed to advance racial equity and fairness, and the rules must be followed,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “Public safety is also harmed when there is such a huge proliferation of unlicensed and unregulated storefronts selling cannabis products that have not been properly inspected.”

Bragg said that his office is working with law enforcement to continue cracking down on illegal pot shops and working with landlords as they attempt to evict these types of shops.

Pot being sold

The city and state has been cracking down on illegal weeds shops.
Office of Cannabis

A pot shop.

Alzandani’s stores can stay open but they are barred from selling the drug and must be subject to random inspections for three years.
Yelp

“Today there are fewer illegal cannabis shops on the Upper West Side thanks to DA Bragg,” said City Councilmember Gale Brewer. “Two of the stores were selling within half a block of three DOE schools and a public playground.”

Brewer said the case involving Alzandani confirms that many of these types of shops are owned by the same people.

Alzandani’s lawyer didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday.

Office of Cannabis Management Enforcement.

State authorities can issue daily fines of between $10,000 and $20,000.
Paul Martinka

New York has begun a push to put an end to illegal weed shops as some 1,500 have popped up in the city in the past few years.

The state Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance have been granted powers to issue fines of between $10,000 and $20,000 a day to stores illegally selling pot.

Bragg has been undertaking his own efforts to snuff out these shops by helping to get them evicted from their buildings. And the NYPD filed four lawsuits against illegal weed shops in February.

The DA has targeted 50 shops for probes and has been in talks with landlords to explore beginning evictions of the businesses.

One illegal pot shop moved out of its building in the wake of the DA’s probe. Three landlords have notified shops they plan to kick them out, one store has been formally evicted and another store is the subject of an ongoing eviction case, the DA’s office said.

One of Alzandani’s shops, Varieties on Broadway, was hit with a surprise inspection, officials announced last month.

Marijuana was legalized in 2021 in New York and the first licenses to sell were given out in January.