Edward A. Comenout Jr., 80; Robert R. Comenout Sr., 77; and Robert R. Comenout Jr., 53; have been summoned to appear in Superior Court on Oct. 23 for arraignment.

They’ve each been charged with selling cigarettes without a license and unlawful possession of unstamped cigarettes, according to documents filed Tuesday.

Prosecutors also filed first-degree theft charges against the men, contending their activities deprived the state of more than $750,000 in tax revenue.

Efforts to reach the Comenouts for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. Prosecutors said Edward Comenout owns the Indian Country Store, at 908 River Road, and the other two men work there.

An attorney who has represented the family in past legal matters – Ted Mahr of Moses Lake, Grant County – said a reporter’s call Wednesday morning was the first he’d heard of the charges.

Agents from the state’s Liquor Control Board raided the store in July.

They seized 37,000 cartons of cigarettes that they claim lacked proper tax stamps or were affixed with out-of-state stamps not recognized in Washington, according to charging papers.

The raid culminated a yearlong undercover investigation where state agents purchased unstamped cigarettes from the store and observed deliveries of unstamped cigarettes, the court records state.

Edward Comenout is a registered member of the Quinault Indian Nation and his store is on Indian trust land, but it is not on an Indian reservation so does not qualify for tax exemptions negotiated between some tribes and the state, prosecutors contend in the court documents.

“Neither the Indian Country Store nor any of the individuals named in this affidavit are licensed by an Indian tribe of the state of Washington to sell cigarettes,” deputy prosecutor Tom Moore wrote in a declaration of probable cause.

This is not the first dispute over whether state or local governments have the authority to regulate commerce at the Indian Country Store.

Edward Comenout Sr., now deceased, asserted in the 1970s that he was exempt from state taxes on cigarettes.

In 1981, police confiscated liquor and cigarettes from the store because the Comenouts weren’t paying state excise taxes. In 1994 authorities confiscated fireworks that they said violated Puyallup city codes.

Last year, Puyallup officials issued a stop-work order for a giant billboard an advertising company was erecting on the property, saying it violated city ordinances.

Edward Comenout Jr. appealed the decision to the city’s hearing examiner but lost.

He then took his case to federal court, claiming the city has no jurisdiction to enforce zoning codes on his property. The case is pending.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

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