(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), any person who willfully violates any provision of this law, or who willfully violates any rule or order under this law, shall upon conviction be fined not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or be punished by both a fine and imprisonment; but no person may be imprisoned for the violation of any rule or order if that person proves that he or she had no knowledge of the rule or order.
(b) Any person who willfully violates Section 29536 shall upon conviction be fined not more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for two, three, or four years, or be punished by both that fine and imprisonment.
(c) One-half of the fines collected under this section shall be paid to the State Corporations Fund to be used for the support of this division. The remainder of the fines collected under this section shall be paid to the state or local agency which brought the criminal prosecution.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 52. (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.)