Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has reached a deal with the owner of 11 convenience stores across two boroughs that have been selling cannabis illegally. The shops will be allowed to remain open, and the owner will avoid prosecution, as long as he no longer sells weed and pays hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the state, Bragg’s office announced on Tuesday.
This move is the first enforcement action Bragg’s office has announced as part of its strategy to target shop owners and landlords who are tied to multiple unlicensed cannabis shops.
“Cannabis legalization in New York state was designed to advance racial equity and fairness, and the rules must be followed,” Bragg said in a statement on the action. “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.”
The owner of the stores, Rami Alzandani, will have to pay $103,000 in restitution to the state Department of Taxation and Finance for selling untaxed products, and an additional $300,000, which the DA’s office said the shops earned in proceeds from the unlicensed sales. Alzandani pled guilty to a charge of criminal possession of cannabis in the second degree – meaning he had more than 5 pounds of marijuana or more than 2 pounds of concentrates – at four of the shops and received a $5,000 fine.
His stores will be subject to regular inspections over the next three years to ensure they continue to abstain from selling cannabis, Bragg’s office said. All of the stores are located in Manhattan, except for one that is located in Ridgewood, Queens.
Alzandani could not immediately be reached for comment.
Unlicensed cannabis stores have become ubiquitous in New York City since the state legalized marijuana in March 2021. Enforcement against the unlicensed stores is now a major priority for some municipal and state lawmakers, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, but the…
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