[Bonaparte]

"... the difference between agency rules and criminal codes."

The statutes authorize the agency regs. And those regs are always subject to oversight and review by congressional and executive liaison. Once again, the rules are authorized by the enabling legislation. Or did you think Congress is responsible for implementation and enforcement of its own laws?

"...there is no agency of the Executive branch which has the legal ability to impose any criminal sanction. That's what the Judicial Branch is there for."

The following definition is from the Findlaw Legal Dictionary. See definition 1. I have provided links to current examples of federal agencies imposing criminal sanctions, ie. penalties for breaking the law.

sanction

['sa[ng]k-shen]

1: a punitive or coercive measure or action that results from failure to comply with a law, rule, or order
Example: a {h,1}sanction for contempt

2: explicit or official approval

3: an economic or military coercive measure adopted usu. by several nations in concert for forcing a nation violating international law to desist or yield to adjudication
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Fax.com Fined Over $5 Million by FCC

Commerce Fines Sun Microsystems For Violating Technology Export Restrictions

College Student Fined By SEC For Stock Price Manipulation

Company Fined By US Commerce Department For Exporting Encryption Software

From the SEC website (all emphasis mine, my clarifications in blue -- see linked page to verify context)...

Under the securities laws the Commission can bring enforcement actions either in the federal courts or internally before an administrative law judge. The factors considered by the Commission in deciding how to proceed include: the seriousness of the wrongdoing, the technical nature of the matter, tactical considerations, and the type of sanction or relief to obtain. For example, the Commission [ie. the SEC] may bar someone from the brokerage industry in an administrative proceeding [IOW, somebody broke a law and the SEC imposes a sanction for that crime], but an order barring someone from acting as a corporate officer or director must be obtained in federal court. Often, when the misconduct warrants it, the Commission will bring both proceedings.

...

Administrative action: The Commission can seek a variety of sanctions through the administrative proceeding process. Administrative proceedings differ from civil court actions in that they are heard by an administrative law judge (ALJ), who is independent of the Commission. The administrative law judge presides over a hearing and considers the evidence presented by the Division staff, as well as any evidence submitted by the subject of the proceeding. Following the hearing the ALJ issues an initial decision in which he makes findings of fact and reaches legal conclusions. The initial decision also contains a recommended sanction. Both the Division staff and the defendant may appeal all or any portion of the initial decision to the Commission [ie. the SEC]. The Commission may affirm the decision of the ALJ, reverse the decision, or remand it for additional hearings. Administrative sanctions include cease and desist orders, suspension or revocation of broker-dealer and investment advisor registrations, censures, bars from association with the securities industry, and payment of civil monetary penalties, and return of illegal profits.


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One last attempt to educate you and then I'm outta here...

Here are actions included under "criminal sanctions" (from the website of another federal agency, the NRC:

...criminal sanctions may include imprisonment, fines, restitution of monies, and rendering of community services.

IOW, fines are grouped along with those other remedies classified as criminal sanctions, and fines, as I've demonstrated above can be enforced by a variety of federal agencies without recourse to the court system, ie. by internal, administrative process -- a process whose recommendations an agency such as the SEC can accept or reverse.

If you still want to argue with all this (and I'm sure you do), take it up with the federal agency lawyers who wrote it.

[Regulator]

Once again, you have done just the opposite from what you intended. Simply because Congress authorizes an agency and its regulations does not make the regulations part of the criminal code, Title 18.

Your Findlaw only alludes to how the the SEC can make an accusation in Federal court; it can impose no criminal sanction, i.e., find you guilty of any crime. That would be up to the Federal court and its jury (you have heard of trial by jury, right, Genius?).

All the other references are to civil penalties for violating agency law. Such a fine will not leave you or your company with any criminal record in the Federal Judiciary; there will only be a record of an enforcement action at a particular agency, such as the SEC or the FAA or the NTSB, for example. These will only affect licensure privileges, in most cases. Companies get fined all the time: go to the FAA website and look at the fines that the major airlines routinely have to pay. No one goes to jail, no has a criminal record, no jury has to sit and listen, the only thing that happens is the agency attorneys make their case in front of the administrative law judge. Same with pilots; enforcement actions happen all the time, people are found to have violated a regulation, but the only thing that happens is either a fine or loss of license. Such an action does not result in a conviction for either a misdemeanor or a felony. As such, it is not "criminal".

Fines can indeed be part of a criminal penalty, but that is not the case with agency sanctions, since by definition, violations of them are not crimes. IOW fines can be incurred under both civil and criminal cases. But it isn't the same thing.

As far as chatting with the Federal attorneys who wrote some agency rules, I don't need to bother. The guy who brought me into the world was one of those guys, and he and I have had long talks about the ALJ system and its fundamental Un-Constitutionality, even in its current state.

By the way...

1: a punitive or coercive measure or action that results from failure to comply with a law, rule, or order

Note again that the distinction is made between a law and a rule, even here.