-CITE-
    18 USC CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY                              01/03/2007

-EXPCITE-
    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

-HEAD-
                          CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY                      

-MISC1-
    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.

-End-

-CITE-
    18 USC Sec. 371                                             01/03/2007

-EXPCITE-
    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

-HEAD-
    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.

-SOURCE-
    (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 701; Pub. L. 103-322, title
    XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

-MISC1-
                       HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES                   
      Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Secs. 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".

-End-

-CITE-
    18 USC Sec. 372                                             01/03/2007

-EXPCITE-
    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

-HEAD-
    Sec. 372. Conspiracy to impede or injure officer

-STATUTE-
      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.)

-MISC1-
                       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".

-End-

-CITE-
    18 USC Sec. 373                                             01/03/2007

-EXPCITE-
    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 19 - CONSPIRACY

-HEAD-
    Sec. 373. Solicitation to commit a crime of violence

-STATUTE-
      (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.)

-MISC1-
                                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".

-End-