California Code, Public Utilities Code - PUC § 5414.5

Every corporation or person who knowingly and willfully issues, publishes, or affixes, or causes or permits the issuance, publishing, or affixing, of any oral or written advertisement, broadcast, or other holding out to the public, or any portion thereof, that the corporation or person is in operation as a charter-party carrier of passengers without having a valid certificate or permit issued under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable, if an individual, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both, or, if a corporation, by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).