1.34General Criminal Penalties for Felony Traffic Offenses

The MVC and the Michigan Penal Code (MPC) contain general penalty provisions that apply in felony cases where criminal sanctions are not otherwise fixed by statute.

Under the MVC, “[a]ny person who is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this act declared to constitute a felony, unless a different penalty is expressly provided herein, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than 1 year nor more than 5 years, or by a fine of not less than $500.00 nor more than $5,000.00, or by both such fine and imprisonment.” MCL 257.902.

Under the MPC, if the criminal penalty is not otherwise fixed by statute, a person convicted of a crime declared by the state of Michigan to be a felony “is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 4 years or a fine of not more than $5,000.00 dollars, or both.” MCL 750.503.

A conflict between the penal provisions of the MVC and the Code of Criminal Procedure must be resolved in favor of the more specific MVC provisions. See Wayne Co Prosecutor v Wayne Circuit Judge, 154 Mich App 216, 221-222 (1986).