HARDYSTON TOWNSHIP, NJ (Sussex County) – Four Hardyston Township stores are accused of illegally selling cannabis, police announced earlier this month.
The Hardyston Township Police Department charged four local businesses and their respective owners on Dec. 21, 2023 in violation of a 2022 ordinance prohibiting the unlicensed retail sale of cannabis in the township, police said.
According to police, between Nov. 27, 2023 and Dec. 16, 2023, the investigating officers from the Hardyston Township Police Department made multiple purchases of cannabis or cannabis products from the following businesses:
- Big Smoke II, 3640 State Route 94 (Owner: Thomas Diaz, 34, of Sparta Township, NJ)
- Greenlight, 3339 State Route 94 (Owner: Paul Card, 31, of Hardyston Township, NJ)
- Rich’s Deli, 2826 State Route 23 (Owner: Meghanath Paudel, 45, of Woodside, NY)
- Jersey Jane’s, 2828 State Route 23 (Owner: Nicholas Krukovsky, 47, of Hardyston, NJ)
The businesses and their owners were issued separate violations for each day during the course of the investigation that they continued to engage in the sale of cannabis, with each violation subject to a penalty not exceeding $2,000, police said.
The owners are scheduled to appear in the Hardyston Township Municipal Court on Feb. 21, police said.
