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18 USC CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY 01/06/03

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TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

.

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CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

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Sec.

371. Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States.

372. Conspiracy to impede or injure officer.

373. Solicitation to commit a crime of violence.

AMENDMENTS

1984 - Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 1003(b), Oct. 12, 1984, 98

Stat. 2138, added item 373.

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18 USC Sec. 371 01/06/03

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TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

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Sec. 371. Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States

-STATUTE-

If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense

against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any

agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of

such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy,

each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than

five years, or both.

If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object

of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such

conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for

such misdemeanor.

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(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701; Pub. L. 103-322, title

XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

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HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 88, 294 (Mar. 4, 1909,

ch. 321, Sec. 37, 35 Stat. 1096; Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, Sec. 178a,

as added Sept. 27, 1944, ch. 425, 58 Stat. 752).

This section consolidates said sections 88 and 294 of title 18,

U.S.C., 1940 ed.

To reflect the construction placed upon said section 88 by the

courts the words ''or any agency thereof'' were inserted. (See Haas

v. Henkel, 1909, 30 S. Ct. 249, 216 U. S. 462, 54 L. Ed. 569, 17

Ann. Cas. 1112, where court said: ''The statute is broad enough in

its terms to include any conspiracy for the purpose of impairing,

obstructing, or defeating the lawful functions of any department of

government.'' Also, see United States v. Walter, 1923, 44 S. Ct.

10, 263 U. S. 15, 68 L. Ed. 137, and definitions of department and

agency in section 6 of this title.)

The punishment provision is completely rewritten to increase the

penalty from 2 years to 5 years except where the object of the

conspiracy is a misdemeanor. If the object is a misdemeanor, the

maximum imprisonment for a conspiracy to commit that offense, under

the revised section, cannot exceed 1 year.

The injustice of permitting a felony punishment on conviction for

conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is described by the late Hon.

Grover M. Moscowitz, United States district judge for the eastern

district of New York, in an address delivered March 14, 1944,

before the section on Federal Practice of the New York Bar

Association, reported in 3 Federal Rules Decisions, pages 380-392.

Hon. John Paul, United States district judge for the western

district of Virginia, in a letter addressed to Congressman Eugene

J. Keogh dated January 27, 1944, stresses the inadequacy of the

2-year sentence prescribed by existing law in cases where the

object of the conspiracy is the commission of a very serious

offense.

The punishment provision of said section 294 of title 18 was

considered for inclusion in this revised section. It provided the

same penalties for conspiracy to violate the provisions of certain

counterfeiting laws, as are applicable in the case of conviction

for the specific violations. Such a punishment would seem as

desirable for all conspiracies as for such offenses as

counterfeiting and transporting stolen property in interstate

commerce.

A multiplicity of unnecessary enactments inevitably leads to

confusion and disregard of law. (See reviser's note under section

493 of this title.)

Since consolidation was highly desirable and because of the

strong objections of prosecutors to the general application of the

punishment provision of said section 294, the revised section

represents the best compromise that could be devised between

sharply conflicting views.

A number of special conspiracy provisions, relating to specific

offenses, which were contained in various sections incorporated in

this title, were omitted because adequately covered by this

section. A few exceptions were made, (1) where the conspiracy

would constitute the only offense, or (2) where the punishment

provided in this section would not be commensurate with the gravity

of the offense. Special conspiracy provisions were retained in

sections 241, 286, 372, 757, 794, 956, 1201, 2271, 2384 and 2388 of

this title. Special conspiracy provisions were added to sections

2153 and 2154 of this title.

AMENDMENTS

1994 - Pub. L. 103-322 substituted ''fined under this title'' for

''fined not more than $10,000''.

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SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 24, 1345 of this title;

title 22 section 2778; title 26 section 6531; title 42 section

3795b; title 50 App. section 18.

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18 USC Sec. 372 01/06/03

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TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

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Sec. 372. Conspiracy to impede or injure officer

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If two or more persons in any State, Territory, Possession, or

District conspire to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat,

any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of

confidence under the United States, or from discharging any duties

thereof, or to induce by like means any officer of the United

States to leave the place, where his duties as an officer are

required to be performed, or to injure him in his person or

property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his

office, or while engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, or to

injure his property so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede

him in the discharge of his official duties, each of such persons

shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six

years, or both.

-SOURCE-

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701; Pub. L. 107-273, div. B,

title IV, Sec. 4002(d)(1)(D), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1809.)

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HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 54 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch.

321, Sec. 21, 35 Stat. 1092).

Scope of section was enlarged to cover all possessions of the

United States. When the section was first enacted in 1861 there

were no possessions, and hence the use of the words ''State or

Territory'' was sufficient to describe the area then subject to the

jurisdiction of the United States. The word ''District'' was

inserted by the codifiers of the 1909 Criminal Code.

AMENDMENTS

2002 - Pub. L. 107-273 substituted ''under this title'' for ''not

more than $5,000''.

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18 USC Sec. 373 01/06/03

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TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

PART I - CRIMES

CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

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Sec. 373. Solicitation to commit a crime of violence

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(a) Whoever, with intent that another person engage in conduct

constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted

use, or threatened use of physical force against property or

against the person of another in violation of the laws of the

United States, and under circumstances strongly corroborative of

that intent, solicits, commands, induces, or otherwise endeavors to

persuade such other person to engage in such conduct, shall be

imprisoned not more than one-half the maximum term of imprisonment

or (notwithstanding section 3571) fined not more than one-half of

the maximum fine prescribed for the punishment of the crime

solicited, or both; or if the crime solicited is punishable by life

imprisonment or death, shall be imprisoned for not more than twenty

years.

(b) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this

section that, under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and

complete renunciation of his criminal intent, the defendant

prevented the commission of the crime solicited. A renunciation is

not ''voluntary and complete'' if it is motivated in whole or in

part by a decision to postpone the commission of the crime until

another time or to substitute another victim or another but similar

objective. If the defendant raises the affirmative defense at

trial, the defendant has the burden of proving the defense by a

preponderance of the evidence.

(c) It is not a defense to a prosecution under this section that

the person solicited could not be convicted of the crime because he

lacked the state of mind required for its commission, because he

was incompetent or irresponsible, or because he is immune from

prosecution or is not subject to prosecution.

-SOURCE-

(Added Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 1003(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98

Stat. 2138; amended Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 26, Nov. 10, 1986, 100

Stat. 3597; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330016(2)(A), Sept.

13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)

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AMENDMENTS

1994 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-322 inserted ''(notwithstanding

section 3571)'' before ''fined not more than one-half''.

1986 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-646 substituted ''property or

against the person of another'' for ''the person or property of

another'' and inserted ''life imprisonment or'' before ''death''.

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