NEW SPRINGVILLE — A man who stored hundreds of cartons of untaxed cigarettes in a shed was arrested for a second time, prosecutors said.
Michael Zekry, 69, who was arrested in 2014 for smuggling cigarettes from Virginia to Staten Island, was again stopped by police on Oct. 6 driving a 2005 Ford Freestar even though he didn't have a license, authorities said.
The next day, police searched his New Springville home at Joan Place and a shed outside, which contained 950 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, according to his criminal complaint.
In 2014, Zekry was stopped while driving a Ford Econoline van after a seven-month investigation by police. Officers found 2,035 untaxed cartons of cigarettes inside the car and another 551 cartons inside his apartment, prosecutors said.
Zekry told officers they "got a good one" when he was arrested and admitted to going to Virginia to get the cigarettes and making between $5,000 to $7,000 each time.
He later pleaded guilty to the charges and spent 60 days in jail, the Staten Island Advance reported.
For his latest arrest, Zekry was charged with possession or sale of untaxed cigarettes and driving without a license, the Staten Island District Attorney's office said.
His bail was set at $50,000, the DA said.
Zekry's lawyer did not want to comment on the case.
