NYC: Judge clears suit on untaxed cigarette sales

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - New York City's lawsuit against wholesalers of untaxed cigarettes, who the city says deprive it of tax dollars and thwart it from curbing smoking, was cleared by a U.S. judge, city lawyers said on Thursday.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, on Wednesday decided that wholesalers that "flood the market" with untaxed cigarettes can be held liable under the federal Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act and state law, the lawyers said in a statement. (Editing by Leslie Adler)