ICom (and any legitimate company) will not sell unblocked receivers to anybody in the US who's not specifically permitted to have them (government, military, law enforcement, or any other individual who's received authorization from somebody who is legally allowed to give such authorization), and you need to provide paperwork to prove that you are permitted to use such a device. It would be a crime for a radio receiver manufacturer to sell such a receiver to somebody who's not permitted to buy one.
On the buyer's side, it is a crime to purchase any radio that by design or by modification, is able to receive in the cellphone bands. It does not matter if the radio is being purchased from a person or company, whether it is being bought from an entity selling it in the US or imported from an entity selling it from outside the US, nor whether it was originally manufactured in the US or elsewhere. It doesn't even matter if you purchased it while in a foreign country on vacation, where it happened to be legal, in which case it is a crime to bring the device back into the US when you return from your vacation. In such a situation, you must leave your device overseas when you return to the US (or else have it modified by a technician to have cell bands blocked, prior to returning to the US). Also doesn't matter if it's an actual sale (money is exchanged) or if it is given to you by somebody (money is not exchanged). If anybody transfers ownership of such a scanner to you, both people (you and the person transferring ownership of it to you) have committed a crime.
If you already own a legal receiver, it is a crime to modify it to receive the cell-bands. There is absolutely NO LEGAL WAY to acquire a cell-band capable receiver if you live in the US. Therefore mere possession of such a device is PROOF that a crime has taken place. While possession itself is technically not a crime, it is evidence that a crime has taken place. If a police officer becomes aware that you are in possession of a cell-band capable scanner, he can't arrest you, as possession is not illegal, but it is absolute proof that a crime has most certainly taken place. The police officer can than inform a judge of your possession of this device, as probable cause for a search warrant. The judge in this situation will most certainly grant the officer the warrant, and with that he can confiscate your illegal scanner, look up the serial number of it, find out who sold it, and once that has been determined, the officer has enough evidence to prove the specific crime in court. You will be charged with acquiring an illegal scanner, and the owner store that sold it will be charged with selling an illegal scanner. If it wasn't sold but given to you by somebody, the police detectives will be able to find this out, and arrest and charge both you and the person who gave it to you. If it is determined that you modified the scanner, you will be charged with illegally modifying the scanner.
The RARE exception to a non-government entity owning a cell-band capable scanner legally, is if that entity (such as a security company, such as those security contractor companies you hear about on the news) was doing work for the government and such a scanner was necessary for performing the duty assigned to them by the government.
And don't think that just because the FCC (rather than congress) came up with these rules, that they aren't enforceable. When a government department (such as FCC) is created by an act of congress, any rules/regulations that such a department creates have FORCE OF LAW, just as if they were laws passed by congress. I stay away from unblocked scanners as if they were the PLAGUE itself. Last thing I need is to get a criminal record, and since the crime in question involves radio equipment (though not ham radio equipment) it is VERY likely that the FCC would punish me, by revoking my ham radio license (in addition to me having a prison sentence, the punishment that the court would give me).
