1. (a) Beginning March 1, 2007, a person or entity required to obtain a retail tobacco permit commits the offense of unlawful tobacco retailing in the second degree if the person or entity recklessly fails to obtain a valid permit required under section 245-2.5 and, for the purposes of retail sale, recklessly sells, possesses, stores, acquires, distributes, or transports fewer than five thousand cigarettes or any tobacco products.
2. (b) Unlawful tobacco retailing in the second degree is [a] petty misdemeanor, except that any offense under subsection (a) that occurs within five years of a conviction for unlawful tobacco retailing in the first or second degree is a misdemeanor.

[L 2005, c 131, pt of §1, §9(2); am L 2009, c 30, §2]