> That's a distinction without a difference

Criminal versus civil is a distinction with massive difference.

> Most people receiving these fines happily spend a month in prison for six figures

Most civil monetary penalties are for reporting and filing violations to the FEC, HHS or FinCEN; submitting false information in a Medicare/Medicaid claim [1], grant, contract or bid; or violating consumer protection, employer, OSHA, environmental or patient care laws. The “you” is probably a corporation. And I’m not sure anyone would rationally escalate a fine for e.g. submitting a contract bid with outdated information into a criminal conviction.

[1] https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/types-of-civil-monetar...: