Penal Law § 80.15

Multiple offenses

§ 80.15 Multiple offenses.

Where a person is convicted of two or more offenses committed through a single act or omission, or through an act or omission which in itself constituted one of the offenses and also was a material element of the other, and the court imposes a sentence of imprisonment or a fine or both for one of the offenses, a fine shall not be imposed for the other. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any offense or offenses set forth in the vehicle and traffic law.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/80.15

In plain English

Where a person is convicted of two or more offenses from a single act/omission (or where one offense was a material element of the other), and the court imposes imprisonment or a fine for one of them, it cannot also impose a fine for the other. ★ This anti-double-fine rule does not apply to Vehicle and Traffic Law offenses.

★ Exam hits:

Felony fine cap = the higher of $5,000 / double the gain (triple for Art. 496 corruption) / the Art. 220–221 drug schedule ($100k, $50k, $30k, $15k for A-I, A-II, B, C).
Misdemeanor/violation caps: A-misd $1,000, B-misd $500, unclassified = per its own law, violation $250.
"Gain" = value derived MINUS what was returned to victim or surrendered to authorities before sentencing.
Corporations (§ 80.10): felony $80,000, A-misd/long-unclassified $40,000, B-misd/short-unclassified $15,000, violation $4,000 — or triple the gain.
§ 80.15: one act producing multiple offenses = only ONE fine — except V&T Law offenses.
§§ 80.00 and 80.05 do not apply to corporations; § 80.10 is the corporate track.

Verbatim statute: Penal Law - Article 80

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The JG-22 Penal Law and in Volume 1 — The JG-22 in Plain English.