removal of catalytic converter

exactly how steep is the penalty for being caught without one?

death penalty, or worse

danger's my middle name.

Depends on the state/province. Sometimes its a fine, sometimes they will just not pass the emissions test until you get one put in.

If you do not have an emissions test and you keep your exhaust quiet, and not drive like a buffoon, likely no one will find out.

As of oct 16th of last year, the federal govt requires all states that adhere to only 'federal' emissions, either in full or in part, to verify the existence of:

Cat,
Evap,
Fuel cap,
'regular fuel' plug,
EGR,
AIR system (if euqipped),
PCV.

The hows are left up to each state, for example, CT does not do yearly safety inspections, but they do yearly emissions so it would be caught there. PA which partly adheres to fed standards does yearly safety inspections state wide, in 'non-emission' counties, us inspection personnel verify the parts, in emission counties, the IM people do...your state may differ. But you will get caught and there is no minimum 'buy out' you can pay to replace removed equipment.

I was caught several times. Nothing happened. I live in Massachusetts. They just said "get one". I was told to get one about seven times haha...

um, the only way you could get caught is at the emissions...no cop gets up under your car checking for cats.

No inspections here in AL, and as such there are gazillions of cars running around w/o cats. I have a cat, just no muffler...

um, the only way you could get caught is at the emissions...no cop gets up under your car checking for cats.

Wrong. 3 of the 7 cops actually got on the ground to look at my exhaust. It was so loud they suspected it either didn't have a cat, or muffler, and I had neither. I'm in the middle of rebuilding my car, and I'm just going to gut out a catalytic converter and weld it on, so it looks like I have one.