AG Sues to Shut Down Oneonta Vape Shop that Sold to Minors

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
ONEONTA

An Oneonta vape shop is facing permanent closure from a new lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health.

They allege Royalty Tobacco and its owners Eysa Sharhan and Ahmed Mozeb repeatedly violated the law, illegally selling flavored nicotine products to minors and twice changing its name and once its location to evade law enforcement. The business also went by Pop-In Smoke & Vape and Pufftopia.

“Despite repeated warnings, fines, and license revocations, these business owners have continued to ignore the law and endanger young New Yorkers’ health,” Attorney General James said in a statement. “Our children’s health and safety are nonnegotiable. My office will not allow bad actors to put profits over people. We are taking action to shut down this store and ban its owners from the vape industry once and for all.”

“The widespread availability of e-cigarettes and vapor products poses significant public health challenges, with particularly alarming consequences for adolescents such as addiction and damage to the developing adolescent brain, lungs and overall health,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. “The Department of Health remains committed to decreasing vaping among young people through education and through our investigations like this. With partners like Attorney General Letitia James, we will hold those accountable who violate the laws made to protect our children.”

Sharhan and Mozeb could not be reached for comment. A phone number included in the lawsuit is inactive.

The lawsuit said inspections and undercover purchases from June 2022 to as recently as September 2025 have repeatedly found the business illegally selling flavored nicotine. In at least one instance, the store was also found to be selling cannabis illegally. The three businesses have racked up over $195,000.00 in fines, which remain largely unpaid.

The suit said Pop-In Smoke was known to local high-school students as a business that would sell flavored vapes to them. An unnamed Oneonta town board member heard high schoolers discussing the store and alerted DOH, the suit says.

On April 20, 2023, the suit says, DOH conducted an adult compliance check in collaboration with the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office. In a pattern repeated throughout the lawsuit, though the store’s tobacco and vapor certificates were permanently revoked at the time, DOH allegedly found 1,716 flavored vape products for sale in the store’s back room. The sheriff’s deputy on scene arrested the clerk, the suit says.

Otsego County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Anthony Grimes told AllOtsego that the individual, Mugahid A. Hassan, was charged with misdemeanor “Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the seventh degree, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and two counts of Criminal Possession of Cannabis in the third degree” upon recommendation of the county district attorney. Grimes said no other arrests have been made in connection to the investigation.

The Otsego County DA’s Office did not respond by press time to a request for comment on the outcome of the Hassan case or whether it will be pursuing charges in relation to the lawsuit.

If the lawsuit is successful, James’ office said, it will “shut down Royalty Tobacco’s operations permanently, bar Sharhan and Mozeb from selling vape products in New York, and recover fines, penalties, and profits earned through the illegal sale of flavored nicotine products.”

James filed a similar lawsuit against a different shop in Ilion, Herkimer County in January. In February, her office also filed a suit against 13 vape companies for “fueling the youth vaping epidemic.” Vape industry leaders denied the claims.

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