Consumers might as well put a sock in complaints about gas stations inflating prices.

The Virginia attorney general's office hasn't yet prosecuted stations for price gouging -- if indeed any gouging occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Emily Lucier, a spokeswoman in the attorney general's office, said Tuesday that the office has been reviewing complaints of price gouging since Gov. Mark Warner declared a state of emergency in early September. In the days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, some gas stations in Roanoke raised prices by as much as 20 cents within an hour.

The penalties for anyone prosecuted for price gouging would include paying a fine of up to $2,500, reimbursing consumers' attorney fees, or repaying money that was unfairly charged. If that fine seems small, consider that the $2,500 penalty may be levied separately for each sale.

But the owners of two gasoline stations in Roanoke, interviewed by this newspaper on Tuesday, said they haven't been contacted by state investigators. One, Atul Patel, who owns a One Stop Market on Williamson Road in Roanoke, said he didn't charge customers unfairly and merely passed along increases that came from distributors and ultimately from refiners. "If there's gouging, it's somewhere down the line," he said.

Complaints of price gouging have died down, said the Office of Consumer Affairs in Richmond. That's largely because prices have dropped sharply from their highs. "I had never seen prices go up by 70 cents a gallon in a day or so. And now I have seen a bigger drop than ever in my 16 years of selling gas: 50 cents in a few days," Patel said.

It is not unusual that a government's investigation of price gouging at gas stations can draw out over a long period of time, two law experts said.

A rush to judgment wouldn't be fair, said Michael Dooley, a professor of law at the University of Virginia. "We ought to be a little cautious about how we react to an increase in prices."

Dave Hoffman, an associate professor of law at Temple University in Philadelphia, said most price gouging cases are settled out of court. The ultimate punishment for a business may be the negative publicity. "It's like putting a dunce cap on the gas station," he said. "Don't take advantage of the community."