Colorado § 39-28-306 - Penalties and other remedies.

§ 39-28-306. Penalties and other remedies.

(1) License revocation and civil penalty. In addition to or in lieu of any other civil or criminal remedy provided by law, upon a determination that a stamping agent has violated section 39-28-303 (3) or any rule adopted pursuant thereto, the executive director of the department may revoke or suspend the license of any stamping agent in the manner provided by sections 39-28-102 (1) and 39-28.5-104. Each stamp affixed and each offer to sell cigarettes in violation of section 39-28-303 (3) shall constitute a separate violation. For each violation, the executive director may also impose a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed the greater of five hundred percent of the retail value of the cigarettes sold or five thousand dollars upon a determination of a violation of section 39-28-303 (3) or any rules adopted pursuant thereto.

(2) Contraband and seizure. Any cigarettes that have been sold, offered for sale, or possessed for sale in this state in violation of section 39-28-303 (3) shall be deemed a contraband article as defined by section 16-13-502 (1), C.R.S. The cigarettes shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture as provided in the "Colorado Contraband Forfeiture Act", part 5 of article 13 of title 16, C.R.S., and any cigarettes so seized and forfeited shall be destroyed and not resold.

(3) Injunction. The attorney general, on behalf of the department, may seek an injunction to restrain a threatened or actual violation of section 39-28-303 (3) or 39-28-305 (1) or (4) by a stamping agent and to compel the stamping agent to comply with those statutory provisions.

(4) Unlawful sale and distribution. It is unlawful for a person to sell, distribute, acquire, hold, own, possess, transport, import, or cause to be imported cigarettes that the person knows or should know are intended for distribution or sale in the state in violation of section 39-28-303 (3). A violation of this section is a class 2 misdemeanor.

(5) Colorado consumer protection act. A person who violates section 39-28-303 (3) engages in an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of section 6-1-105, C.R.S.

(6) Disgorgement of profits for violations of this part 3. If a court determines that a person has violated this part 3, the court shall order any profits, gain, gross receipts, or other benefit from the violation to be disgorged and paid to the state treasurer for deposit into the tobacco control special fund, which is hereby created. Unless otherwise expressly provided, the remedies or penalties provided by this part 3 are cumulative to each other and to the remedies or penalties available under all other laws of this state.

Source: L. 2003: Entire part added, p. 1759, § 1, effective May 14.