P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 2403

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 2403. Prohibited acts (C); penalties

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally:

(1) Who is a registrant to distribute a controlled substance classified in Schedule I or II, in the course of his legitimate business, except pursuant to an order or an order form as required by § 2307 of this title;

(2) to use in the course of the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance a registration number which is fictitious, revoked, suspended, or issued to another person;

(3) [to] acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge, or to acquire or obtain a controlled substance either by purchase or otherwise from a manufacturer, distributor or dispenser who has not obtained the proper registration to operate in Puerto Rico;

(4) to furnish false or fraudulent material information in, or omit any material information from, any application, report, record, or other document required to be made, kept, or filed under this chapter, or

(5) to make, distribute, or possess any punch, die, plate, stone, or other thing designed to print, imprint, or reproduce the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, or device of another or any likeness of any of the foregoing upon any drug or container or labeling thereof so as to render such drug a counterfeit substance.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to use any communication facility in committing or in causing or facilitating the commission of any act or acts constituting a felony under any provision of this chapter. Each separate use of a communication facility shall be a separate offense under this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, the term “communication facility” means any and all public and private instrumentalities used or useful in the transmission of writing, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds of all kinds and includes mail, telephone, wire, radio, and all other means of communication.

(c) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of two (2) years and six (6) months. Should there be aggravating circumstances, the fixed penalty established may be increased to a maximum of four (4) years; if there should be extenuating circumstances, it may be reduced to a minimum of one (1) year.

The court, in its discretion, in addition to imprisonment, may impose a fine that shall not exceed thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) if any person commits such a violation after one (1) or more previous convictions for an offense punishable under this section, or for a felony under any other provision of this chapter, or any other law of the United States, related to narcotic drugs, marihuana, or stimulant or depressant substances, are final, such person shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of five (5) years. Should there be aggravating circumstances, the fixed penalty established may be increased to a maximum of eight (8) years; if there should be extenuating circumstances, it may be reduced to a minimum of two (2) years.

The court, in its discretion, in addition to imprisonment, may impose a fine that shall not exceed sixty thousand dollars ($60,000).

History —June 23, 1971, No. 4, p. 526, § 403; June 22, 1975, No. 52, p. 118, § 5; June 4, 1980, No. 109, p. 350, § 1.