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Directing the Department of Safety and Inspections to proceed with adverse action and the imposition of a $1,000.00 matrix penalty against the Tobacco Shop license (License ID #918832) held by Frontier JK Limited Liability Company d/b/a Frontier JK Limited Liability Company for the premises located at 623 Como Ave.
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WHEREAS, The Tobacco Shop license (License ID #918832) (“License”) is held by Frontier JK Limited Liability Company d/b/a Frontier JK Limited Liability Company, owned by Muhammad Khan (“Licensee”), for the premises located at 623 Como Ave. in Saint Paul (“Licensed Premises”); and
WHEREAS, The Licensee was notified in a letter from the City Attorney’s Office dated August 12, 2026, titled Notice of Violation and Request for Imposition of $1,000.00 Matrix Penalty -- Second Underage Buyer Failure (“Notice”) (Exhibit #1), that the Department of Safety and Inspections (“Department”) recommended a $1,000.00 matrix penalty for the sale of a tobacco product to an underage buyer; and
WHEREAS, The Notice detailed that on June 9, 2026, at 1:08 p.m., Department Inspector LaTiffany Porter conducted a tobacco underage buyer compliance check at the Licensed Premises. As part of the check, an eighteen-year-old female, retained by the Department to perform the check, entered the Licensed Premises to purchase a tobacco product. The clerk did not ask for her age, nor did the clerk ask for her identification. Nevertheless, the clerk sold the underage buyer a pack of Camel Blue, a tobacco product; and
WHEREAS, On June 12, 2026, the Department sent a letter to the Licensee. The letter stated that the Department had conducted a state-mandated, annual inspection and that a person under the age of 21, hired by the Department to conduct the check, purchased a tobacco product from the Licensee at the Licensed Premises; and
WHEREAS, On or around May 7, 2025, the Department conducted a tobacco underage buyer compliance check at the Licensed Premises, and a tobacco product was sold to an underage buyer. The Department recommended the imposition of the $500.00 matrix penalty for that violation, which the Licensee paid on or around October 30, 2025 (Exhibit #2); and
WHEREAS, The Notice laid out the basis for adverse action and the law upon which the Department relied; and
WHEREAS, Because the Licensee failed the check within two years of the previous failure, the Department recommended a $1,000.00 matrix penalty; and
WHEREAS, On August 27, 2026, the Department informed the City Attorney’s Office that payment of the $1,000.00 matrix penalty was not received; and
WHEREAS, The Notice stated that if the Licensee failed to contact the City Attorney’s Office or the Department or pay the matrix penalty by August 24, 2026, that the matter would be placed on the City Council agenda to impose the recommended penalty; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Tobacco Shop license (License ID #918832) held by Frontier JK Limited Liability Company d/b/a Frontier JK Limited Liability Company for the premises located at 623 Como Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55103, is hereby ordered to pay the $1,000.00 matrix penalty for violation of Saint Paul Legislative Code §§ 310.14 and 324.07(i) and Minnesota Statutes §§ 461.12, subd. 5, and 461.22, subd. 2.