Thursday, October 1, 2026
Rockville Centre resident Joseph Ruda plead guilty last week to charges of cigarette smuggling, which cost New York State more than $1.4 million.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Bruce, of the Western District of New York, Ruda was part of a scheme to ship un-taxed cigarettes from New York to Kentucky. Ruda shipped the cigarettes to Kentucky without filling out the proper forms, costing the state nearly $175,000 in taxes.
Additionally, Ruda also plead guilty on behalf of his company, Gutlove and Shirvint, Inc. The company would ship untaxed cigarettes to several smoke shops on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in upstate New York, then immediately put them onto a second truck bound for the Peace Pipe Smoke Shop on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation on Long Island. From there, the cigarettes would be sold in bulk to bootleggers, who in turn sold them in New York City. The scheme resulted in a loss of more than $1,440,000 for New York.
Prosecutors say the plan was developed after Gutlove and Shirvint entered into an agreement with the Phillip Morris Corporation to stop selling cigarettes to the Peace Pipe Smoke Shop, which was Gutlove and Shirvint’s biggest customer at the time. Phillip Morris found out that the Peace Pipe Smoke Shop was allegedly involved in criminal activity and threatened to stop selling cigarettes to Gutlove and Shrivint if it didn’t stop selling to the Peace Pipe Smoke Shop.
Ruda faces up to six months in prison and forfeited $325,000 in cash to the government. His company, Gutlove and Shirvint, Inc., faces a fine of up to $250,000. It had already made $1,446,000 in restitution payments to New York.
Sentencing is scheduled for early February.
