Except as provided in Section 17511.8, any person, including, but not limited to, the seller, a salesperson, agent or representative of the seller, or an independent contractor, who willfully violates any provision of this article or who directly or indirectly employs any device, scheme, or artifice to deceive in connection with the offer or sale by any telephonic seller, or who willfully, directly, or indirectly, engages in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person in connection with a sale by any telephonic seller shall, upon conviction, be punished as follows:
(a) By a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each unlawful transaction.
(b) By imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year.
(c) By both the fine and imprisonment specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 27. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)