Rhode Island General Laws — Title 44 (Taxation)
R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-20-39
Forgery and counterfeiting â Tampering with meters â Reuse of stamps or containers
Any person who or that fraudulently makes or utters or forges or counterfeits any stamp, disc, license, or marker, prescribed by the tax administrator under the provisions of this chapter, or who causes or procures this to be done; or who willfully utters, publishes, passes or renders as true, any false, altered, forged, or counterfeited stamp, license, disc, or marker; or who knowingly possesses more than twenty (20) packs of cigarettes containing any false, altered, forged, or counterfeited stamp, license, disc, or marker; or who tampers with, or causes to be tampered with, any metering machine authorized to be used under the provisions of this chapter; or who removes or prepares any stamp with intent to use, or cause that stamp to be used, after it has already been used; or who buys, sells, offers for sale, or gives away any washed or removed or restored stamp to any person; or who has in his or her possession any washed or restored or removed or altered stamp that was removed from the article to which it was affixed, or who reuses or refills with cigarettes any package, box, or container required to be stamped under this chapter from which cigarettes have been removed, is deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be fined one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), or be imprisoned for not more than fifteen (15) years, or both.
Amendment history
History of Section. P.L. 1939, ch. 663, § 20; impl. am. P.L. 1940, ch. 875, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 44-20-39; P.L. 2007, ch. 246, § 3; P.L. 2007, ch. 250, § 3; P.L. 2012, ch. 241, art. 21, § 6; P.L. 2014, ch. 151, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 168, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 512, art. 1, § 32.
Source: view the official text
In this chapter (40 sections)
- 44-20-21 · Transfer of stamps prohibited â Redemption of unused stamps
- 44-20-22 · Reimbursement for mutilated and other stamps â Claims
- 44-20-23 · Payment of tax by manufacturer or shipper outside state
- 44-20-24 · Affixing of stamps outside state by vending machine operator
- 44-20-25 · Bond of nonresident authorized to pay tax
- 44-20-26 · Agreement by nonresident to submit records â Attorney to…
- 44-20-27 · Repealed
- 44-20-28 · Stamping by distributors required
- 44-20-28.1 · Noncompliance with tobacco manufacturerâs escrow fund…
- 44-20-29 · Repealed
- 44-20-30 · Manner of affixing stamps
- 44-20-31 · Packages in which cigarettes sold â Sample packages
- 44-20-32 · Cancellation of used stamps
- 44-20-33 · Sale of contraband cigarettes, contraband other tobacco…
- 44-20-33.1 · Transportation of unstamped cigarettes
- 44-20-34 · Display of stamps in vending machines
- 44-20-35 · Penalties for violations as to unstamped contraband…
- 44-20-36 · Possession of unstamped cigarettes
- 44-20-37 · Seizure and destruction of unstamped cigarettes
- 44-20-38 · Hearing on cigarettes seized
- 44-20-39 · Forgery and counterfeiting â Tampering with meters â…
- 44-20-40 · Records â Investigation and inspection of books, premises,…
- 44-20-40.1 · Inspections
- 44-20-41 · Monthly reports of distributors and dealers
- 44-20-42 · Reports and records of carriers, bailees and warehouse…
- 44-20-43 · Violations as to reports and records
- 44-20-44 · Declarations under penalty of perjury
- 44-20-45 · Importation of cigarettes, other tobacco products, and/or…
- 44-20-46 · Witnesses before tax administrator
- 44-20-47 · Hearings by tax administrator
- 44-20-48 · Appeal to district court
- 44-20-49 · Disposition of revenue â Payment of refunds
- 44-20-50 · Administration â Forms â Rules and regulations
- 44-20-51 · Penalty for violations generally
- 44-20-51.1 · Civil penalties
- 44-20-51.2 · Criminal penalty for fraudulent offenses
- 44-20-51.3 · Counterfeit cigarettes
- 44-20-52 · Exercise of powers and duties
- 44-20-53 · Direct tax on consumer
- 44-20-54 · Taxes and fees as debt to state