(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, any person who willfully evades or attempts in any manner to evade or defeat the payment of the tax imposed by this part is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) and not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), imprisonment, or both the fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. In addition to the fine or imprisonment, or both, each person convicted under this section shall pay up to two dollars ($2) for each gallon of motor vehicle fuel, or portion thereof, knowingly removed, entered, blended, or possessed, kept, stored, or retained for the purpose of removal or removed, or offered for removal, or entry, or entered, or for sale, or actually sold, or offered for sale, in violation of this section, as determined by the court.
(b) Proceeds of the assessed penalty shall be distributed to the treasurer of the county in which the action was brought for allocation to the prosecuting agency in the amount necessary to reimburse the agency for its costs of prosecution, and to the county for its reasonable costs of administration of this paragraph. Any remaining proceeds shall be deposited in the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund, and shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay administrative costs of the board to enforce this part.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1053, Sec. 48. Effective January 1, 2001. Operative January 1, 2002, by Sec. 53 of Ch. 1053.)