Corporate executives were given a stark reminder last week: failing to provide CPSC with timely information about hazardous products can have significant personal consequences. Two senior executives from Gree USA were convicted of conspiracy and failure to report legally required information to CPSC about the risks of Gree dehumidifiers catching fire. Those individuals now face prison.

I continue to be concerned that companies may consider the existing penalty regime—which currently caps monetary penalties at just above $17 million dollars—may not provide a meaningful deterrent to companies, particularly those with revenues in the hundreds of millions and even billions, of dollars. The potential loss of liberty can serve as another kind of deterrent to would-be bad actors and a meaningful incentive to meet their obligations under the law.

Decision-makers are now on notice in the wake of this first-ever criminal conviction that CPSC and its federal partners will use all tools available to ensure that companies—and the individuals who run them—are held responsible for doing what they should and must do: obey the law.