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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1825. Violations and penalties
(a) Criminal acts and penalties
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, any
person who knowingly violates section 1824 of this title shall,
upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $3,000, or
imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(2)(A) If any person knowingly violates section 1824 of this
title, after one or more prior convictions of such person for such
a violation have become final, such person shall, upon conviction
thereof, be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned for not more
than two years, or both.
(B) Any person who knowingly makes, or causes to be made, a false
entry or statement in any report required under this chapter; who
knowingly makes, or causes to be made, any false entry in any
account, record, or memorandum required to be established and
maintained by any person or in any notification or other
information required to be submitted to the Secretary under section
1823 of this title; who knowingly neglects or fails to make or
cause to be made, full, true, and correct entries in such accounts,
records, memoranda, notification, or other materials; who knowingly
removes any such documentary evidence out of the jurisdiction of
the United States; who knowingly mutilates, alters, or by any other
means falsifies any such documentary evidence; or who knowingly
refuses to submit any such documentary evidence to the Secretary
for inspection and copying shall be guilty of an offense against
the United States, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not
more than $5,000, or imprisoned for not more than three years, or
both.
(C) Any person who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes,
intimidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in or on
account of the performance of his official duties under this
chapter shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more
than three years, or both. Whoever, in the commission of such acts,
uses a deadly or dangerous weapon shall be fined not more than
$10,000, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. Whoever
kills any person while engaged in or on account of the performance
of his official duties under this chapter shall be punishable as
provided under sections 1111 and 1112 of title 18.
(b) Civil penalties; review and enforcement
(1) Any person who violates section 1824 of this title shall be
liable to the United States for a civil penalty of not more than
$2,000 for each violation. No penalty shall be assessed unless such
person is given notice and opportunity for a hearing before the
Secretary with respect to such violation. The amount of such civil
penalty shall be assessed by the Secretary by written order. In
determining the amount of such penalty, the Secretary shall take
into account all factors relevant to such determination, including
the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the prohibited
conduct and, with respect to the person found to have engaged in
such conduct, the degree of culpability, any history of prior
offenses, ability to pay, effect on ability to continue to do
business, and such other matters as justice may require.
(2) Any person against whom a violation is found and a civil
penalty assessed under paragraph (1) of this subsection may obtain
review in the court of appeals of the United States for the circuit
in which such person resides or has his place of business or in the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
by filing a notice of appeal in such court within 30 days from the
date of such order and by simultaneously sending a copy of such
notice by certified mail to the Secretary. The Secretary shall
promptly file in such court a certified copy of the record upon
which such violation was found and such penalty assessed, as
provided in section 2112 of title 28. The findings of the Secretary
shall be set aside if found to be unsupported by substantial
evidence.
(3) If any person fails to pay an assessment of a civil penalty
after it has become a final and unappealable order, or after the
appropriate court of appeals has entered final judgment in favor of
the Secretary, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Attorney
General, who shall recover the amount assessed in any appropriate
district court of the United States. In such action, the validity
and appropriateness of the final order imposing the civil penalty
shall not be subject to review.
(4) The Secretary may, in his discretion, compromise, modify, or
remit, with or without conditions, any civil penalty assessed under
this subsection.
(c) Disqualification of offenders; orders; civil penalties
applicable; enforcement procedures
In addition to any fine, imprisonment, or civil penalty
authorized under this section, any person who was convicted under
subsection (a) of this section or who paid a civil penalty assessed
under subsection (b) of this section or is subject to a final order
under such subsection assessing a civil penalty for any violation
of any provision of this chapter or any regulation issued under
this chapter may be disqualified by order of the Secretary, after
notice and an opportunity for a hearing before the Secretary, from
showing or exhibiting any horse, judging or managing any horse
show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction for a period of
not less than one year for the first violation and not less than
five years for any subsequent violation. Any person who knowingly
fails to obey an order of disqualification shall be subject to a
civil penalty of not more than $3,000 for each violation. Any horse
show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction, or the management
thereof, collectively and severally, which knowingly allows any
person who is under an order of disqualification to show or exhibit
any horse, to enter for the purpose of showing or exhibiting any
horse, to take part in managing or judging, or otherwise to
participate in any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or
auction in violation of an order shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more than $3,000 for each violation. The provisions
of subsection (b) of this section respecting the assessment,
review, collection, and compromise, modification, and remission of
a civil penalty apply with respect to civil penalties under this
subsection.
(d) Production of witnesses and books, papers, and documents;
depositions; fees; presumptions; jurisdiction
(1) The Secretary may require by subpena the attendance and
testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, and
documents relating to any matter under investigation or the subject
of a proceeding. Witnesses summoned before the Secretary shall be
paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the
courts of the United States.
(2) The attendance of witnesses, and the production of books,
papers, and documents, may be required at any designated place from
any place in the United States. In case of disobedience to a
subpena the Secretary, or any party to a proceeding before the
Secretary, may invoke the aid of any appropriate district court of
the United States in requiring attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents
under the provisions of this chapter.
(3) The Secretary may order testimony to be taken by deposition
under oath in any proceeding or investigation pending before him,
at any stage of the proceeding or investigation. Depositions may be
taken before any person designated by the Secretary who has power
to administer oaths. The Secretary may also require the production
of books, papers, and documents at the taking of depositions.
(4) Witnesses whose depositions are taken and the persons taking
them shall be entitled to the same fees as paid for like services
in the courts of the United States or in other jurisdictions in
which they may appear.
(5) In any civil or criminal action to enforce this chapter or
any regulation under this chapter a horse shall be presumed to be a
horse which is sore if it manifests abnormal sensitivity or
inflammation in both of its forelimbs or both of its hindlimbs.
(6) The United States district courts, the District Court of
Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, the highest court
of American Samoa, and the United States courts of the other
territories, are vested with jurisdiction specifically to enforce,
and to prevent and restrain violations of this chapter, and shall
have jurisdiction in all other kinds of cases arising under this
chapter, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(e) Detention of horses; seizure and condemnation of equipment
(1) The Secretary may detain (for a period not to exceed
twenty-four hours) for examination, testing, or the taking of
evidence, any horse at any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse
sale or auction which is sore or which the Secretary has probable
cause to believe is sore. The Secretary may require the temporary
marking of any horse during the period of its detention for the
purpose of identifying the horse as detained. A horse which is
detained subject to this paragraph shall not be moved by any person
from the place it is so detained except as authorized by the
Secretary or until the expiration of the detention period
applicable to the horse.
(2) Any equipment, device, paraphernalia, or substance which was
used in violation of any provision of this chapter or any
regulation issued under this chapter or which contributed to the
soring of any horse at or prior to any horse show, horse
exhibition, or horse sale or auction, shall be liable to be
proceeded against, by process of libel for the seizure and
condemnation of such equipment, device, paraphernalia, or
substance, in any United States district court within the
jurisdiction of which such equipment, device, paraphernalia, or
substance is found. Such proceedings shall conform as nearly as
possible to proceedings in rem in admiralty.
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