I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2857 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to reduce violent gang crime and 

protect law-abiding citizens and communities from violent criminals, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2009 

Mr. FORBES (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. FRANKS

of Arizona, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to reduce violent 

gang crime and protect law-abiding citizens and communities from violent criminals, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gang Deterrence and 

5 Community Protection Act of 2009’’. 


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1 TITLE I—CRIMINAL LAW RE2 FORMS AND ENHANCED PEN3 ALTIES TO DETER AND PUN4 ISH ILLEGAL STREET GANG 

5 ACTIVITY AND RELATED 

6 CRIMINAL LAW REFORMS 

7 SEC. 101. REVISION AND EXTENSION OF PENALTIES RE8 LATED TO CRIMINAL STREET GANG ACTIV9 ITY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 26 of title 18, United 

11 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER 26—CRIMINAL STREET GANGS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘521. Criminal street gang prosecutions. 

13 ‘‘§ 521. Criminal street gang prosecutions 

14 ‘‘(a) STREET GANG CRIME.—Whoever commits, or 

15 conspires, threatens or attempts to commit, a gang crime 

16 for the purpose of furthering the activities of a criminal 

17 street gang, or gaining entrance to or maintaining or in18 creasing position in such a gang, shall, in addition to being 

19 subject to a fine under this title— 

20 ‘‘(1) if the gang crime results in the death of 

21 any person, be sentenced to death or life in prison; 

22 ‘‘(2) if the gang crime is kidnapping, aggra23 vated sexual abuse, or maiming, be imprisoned for 

24 life or any term of years not less than 30; 


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1 ‘‘(3) if the gang crime is assault resulting in se2 rious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), be 

3 imprisoned for life or any term of years not less 

4 than 20; and 

5 ‘‘(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

6 for any term of years not less than 10. 

7 ‘‘(b) FORFEITURE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court, in imposing sen9 tence on any person convicted of a violation of this 

10 section, shall order, in addition to any other sen11 tence imposed and irrespective of any provision of 

12 State law, that such person shall forfeit to the 

13 United States such person’s interest in— 

14 ‘‘(A) any property used, or intended to be 

15 used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to 

16 facilitate the commission of, the violation; and 

17 ‘‘(B) any property constituting, or derived 

18 from, any proceeds the person obtained, directly 

19 or indirectly, as a result of the violation. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF CONTROLLED SUB21 STANCES ACT.—Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), 

22 (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of section 

23 413 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

24 853) shall apply to a forfeiture under this section as 

25 though it were a forfeiture under that section. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—The following definitions apply 

2 in this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) CRIMINAL STREET GANG.—The term 

4 ‘criminal street gang’ means a formal or informal 

5 group or association of 3 or more individuals, who 

6 commit 2 or more gang crimes (one of which is a 

7 crime of violence other than an offense punishable 

8 under subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C) of section 

9 401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act), in 2 or 

10 more separate criminal episodes, in relation to the 

11 group or association, if any of the activities of the 

12 criminal street gang affects interstate or foreign 

13 commerce. 

14 ‘‘(2) GANG CRIME.—The term ‘gang crime’ 

15 means conduct constituting any Federal or State 

16 crime, punishable by imprisonment for more than 

17 one year, in any of the following categories: 

18 ‘‘(A) A crime of violence. 

19 ‘‘(B) A crime involving obstruction of jus20 tice, tampering with or retaliating against a 

21 witness, victim, or informant, or burglary. 

22 ‘‘(C) A crime involving the manufacturing, 

23 importing, distributing, possessing with intent 

24 to distribute, or otherwise dealing in a con25 trolled substance or listed chemical (as those 


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1 terms are defined in section 102 of the Con2 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)). 

3 ‘‘(D) Any conduct punishable under sec4 tion 844 (relating to explosive materials), sub5 section (a)(1), (d), (g)(1) (where the underlying 

6 conviction is a violent felony (as defined in sec7 tion 924(e)(2)(B) of this title) or is a serious 

8 drug offense (as defined in section 

9 924(e)(2)(A))), (g)(2), (g)(3), (g)(4), (g)(5), 

10 (g)(8), (g)(9), (i), (j), (k), (n), (o), (p), (q), (u), 

11 or (x) of section 922 (relating to unlawful acts), 

12 or subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), (m), or 

13 (n) of section 924 (relating to penalties), sec14 tion 930 (relating to possession of firearms and 

15 dangerous weapons in Federal facilities), sec16 tion 931 (relating to purchase, ownership, or 

17 possession of body armor by violent felons), sec18 tions 1028 and 1029 (relating to fraud and re19 lated activity in connection with identification 

20 documents or access devices), section 1952 (re21 lating to interstate and foreign travel or trans22 portation in aid of racketeering enterprises), 

23 section 1956 (relating to the laundering of 

24 monetary instruments), section 1957 (relating 

25 to engaging in monetary transactions in propVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:02 Jun 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2857.IH H2857

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1 erty derived from specified unlawful activity), or 

2 sections 2312 through 2315 (relating to inter3 state transportation of stolen motor vehicles or 

4 stolen property). 

5 ‘‘(E) Any conduct punishable under section 

6 274 (relating to bringing in and harboring cer7 tain aliens), section 277 (relating to aiding or 

8 assisting certain aliens to enter the United 

9 States), or section 278 (relating to importation 

10 of alien for immoral purpose) of the Immigra11 tion and Nationality Act. 

12 ‘‘(3) AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ABUSE.—The term 

13 ‘aggravated sexual abuse’ means an offense that, if 

14 committed in the special maritime and territorial ju15 risdiction would be an offense under section 2241(a). 

16 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

17 the several States of the United States, the District 

18 of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or 

19 possession of the United States.’’. 

20 (b) AMENDMENT RELATING TO PRIORITY OF FOR21 FEITURE OVER ORDERS FOR RESTITUTION.—Section 

22 3663(c)(4) of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

23 by striking ‘‘chapter 46 or chapter 96 of this title’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘section 521, under chapter 46 or 96,’’. 


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1 (c) MONEY LAUNDERING.—Section 1956(c)(7)(D) of 

2 title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, 

3 section 521 (relating to criminal street gang prosecu4 tions)’’ before ‘‘, section 541’’. 

5 SEC. 102. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR INTERSTATE AND 

6 FOREIGN TRAVEL OR TRANSPORTATION IN 

7 AID OF RACKETEERING. 

8 (a) SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES TO OFFENSE.—Section 

9 1952(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) so that the heading for the section reads as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘§ 1952. Interstate or foreign commerce-related aid to 

13 racketeering’’; 

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 

15 (3) by striking ‘‘travels’’ and all that follows 

16 through ‘‘intent to’’ and inserting ‘‘, in or affecting 

17 interstate or foreign commerce’’; 

18 (4) by striking ‘‘(1) distribute’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘(A) distributes’’; 

20 (5) by striking ‘‘(2) commit’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘(B) commits’’; 

22 (6) by striking ‘‘(3) otherwise promote, manage, 

23 establish, carry on, or facilitate’’ and inserting ‘‘(C) 

24 otherwise promotes, manages, establishes, carries on, 

25 or facilitates’’; and 


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1 (7) by striking ‘‘and thereafter’’ and all that 

2 follows through the end of the subsection and insert3 ing the following: 

4 ‘‘or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be punished as 

5 provided in paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) The punishment for an offense under this sub7 section is— 

8 ‘‘(A) in the case of a violation of subparagraph 

9 (A) or (C) of paragraph (1), a fine under this title 

10 and imprisonment for not less than 5 nor more than 

11 20 years; and 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of a violation of subparagraph 

13 (B) of paragraph (1), a fine under this title and im14 prisonment for not less than 10 nor more than 30 

15 years, but if death results the offender shall be sen16 tenced to death, or to imprisonment for any term of 

17 years or for life.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

19 section 1952 in the table of sections at the beginning of 

20 chapter 95 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

21 to read as follows: 

‘‘1952. Interstate or foreign commerce-related aid to racketeering.’’. 

22 SEC. 103. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO VIOLENT CRIME. 

23 (a) CARJACKING.—Section 2119 of title 18, United 

24 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘, with the intent to cause death 

2 or serious bodily harm’’ in the matter preceding 

3 paragraph (1); 

4 (2) by inserting ‘‘or conspires’’ after ‘‘at5 tempts’’ in the matter preceding paragraph (1); 

6 (3) by striking ‘‘15’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’ in 

7 paragraph (1); and 

8 (4) by striking ‘‘or imprisoned not more than 

9 25 years, or both’’ and inserting ‘‘and imprisoned 

10 not less than 10 years nor more than 30 years’’ in 

11 paragraph (2). 

12 (b) CLARIFICATION OF ILLEGAL GUN TRANSFERS TO

13 COMMIT DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIME OR CRIMES OF VIO14 LENCE.—Section 924(h) of title 18, United States Code, 

15 is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(h) Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign 

17 commerce, knowingly transfers a firearm, knowing or in18 tending that the firearm will be used to commit, or pos19 sessed in furtherance of, a crime of violence or drug traf20 ficking crime, shall be fined under this title and impris21 oned not less than 5 years nor more than 20 years.’’. 

22 (c) AMENDMENT OF SPECIAL SENTENCING PROVI23 SION RELATING TO LIMITATIONS ON CRIMINAL ASSOCIA24 TION.—Section 3582(d) of title 18, United States Code, 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘section 521 (criminal street 

2 gang prosecutions), in’’ after ‘‘felony set forth in’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘specified person, other than his 

4 attorney, upon’’ and inserting ‘‘specified person 

5 upon’’; and 

6 (3) by inserting ‘‘a criminal street gang or’’ be7 fore ‘‘an illegal enterprise’’. 

8 (d) CONSPIRACY PENALTY.—Section 371 of title 18, 

9 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘five’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘20’’. 

11 SEC. 104. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR USE OF INTERSTATE 

12 COMMERCE FACILITIES IN THE COMMISSION 

13 OF MURDER-FOR-HIRE AND OTHER FELONY 

14 CRIMES OF VIOLENCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1958 of title 18, United 

16 States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by striking the section heading and insert18 ing the following: 

19 ‘‘§ 1958. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the 

20 commission of murder-for-hire and other 

21 felony crimes of violence’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or other 

23 crime of violence, punishable by imprisonment for 

24 more than one year,’’ after ‘‘intent that a murder’’; 

25 and 


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1 (3) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘shall be 

2 fined’’ the first place it appears and all that follows 

3 through the end of such subsection and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘shall, in addition to being subject to a fine under this 

6 title— 

7 ‘‘(1) if the crime of violence or conspiracy re8 sults in the death of any person, be sentenced to 

9 death or life in prison; 

10 ‘‘(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, ag11 gravated sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or 

12 maiming, or a conspiracy to commit such a crime of 

13 violence, be imprisoned for life or any term of years 

14 not less than 30; 

15 ‘‘(3) if the crime of violence is an assault, or a 

16 conspiracy to assault, that results in serious bodily 

17 injury (as defined in section 1365), be imprisoned 

18 for life or any term of years not less than 20; and 

19 ‘‘(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

20 for any term of years not less than 10.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

22 section 1958 in the table of sections at the beginning of 

23 chapter 95 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

24 to read as follows: 

‘‘1958. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-forhire and other felony crimes of violence.’’. 


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1 SEC. 105. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR VIOLENT CRIMES IN 

2 AID OF RACKETEERING ACTIVITY. 

3 (a) OFFENSE.—Section 1959(a) of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(a) Whoever commits, or conspires, threatens, or at6 tempts to commit, a crime of violence for the purpose of 

7 furthering the activities of an enterprise engaged in rack8 eteering activity, or for the purpose of gaining entrance 

9 to or maintaining or increasing position in, such an enter10 prise, shall, unless the death penalty is otherwise imposed, 

11 in addition and consecutive to the punishment provided 

12 for any other violation of this chapter and in addition to 

13 being subject to a fine under this title— 

14 ‘‘(1) if the crime of violence results in the death 

15 of any person, be sentenced to death or life in pris16 on; 

17 ‘‘(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, ag18 gravated sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or 

19 maiming, be imprisoned for life or any term of years 

20 not less than 30; 

21 ‘‘(3) if the crime of violence is assault resulting 

22 in serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), 

23 be imprisoned for life or for any term of years not 

24 less than 20; and 

25 ‘‘(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

26 for any term of years not less than 10.’’. 


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1 (b) VENUE.—Section 1959 of title 18, United States 

2 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(c) A prosecution for a violation of this section may 

4 be brought in— 

5 ‘‘(1) the judicial district in which the crime of 

6 violence occurred; or 

7 ‘‘(2) any judicial district in which racketeering 

8 activity of the enterprise occurred.’’. 

9 SEC. 106. MURDER AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES COM10 MITTED DURING AND IN RELATION TO A 

11 DRUG TRAFFICKING CRIME. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of the Controlled Sub13 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘MURDER AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMES COMMITTED

16 DURING AND IN RELATION TO A DRUG TRAFFICKING

17 CRIME

18 ‘‘SEC. 424. (a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever commits, or 

19 conspires, or attempts to commit, a crime of violence dur20 ing and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, shall, un21 less the death penalty is otherwise imposed, in addition 

22 and consecutive to the punishment provided for the drug 

23 trafficking crime and in addition to being subject to a fine 

24 under this title— 


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1 ‘‘(1) if the crime of violence results in the death 

2 of any person, be sentenced to death or life in pris3 on; 

4 ‘‘(2) if the crime of violence is kidnapping, ag5 gravated sexual abuse (as defined in section 521), or 

6 maiming, be imprisoned for life or any term of years 

7 not less than 30; 

8 ‘‘(3) if the crime of violence is assault resulting 

9 in serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), 

10 be imprisoned for life or any term of years not less 

11 than 20; and 

12 ‘‘(4) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

13 for any term of years not less than 10. 

14 ‘‘(b) VENUE.—A prosecution for a violation of this 

15 section may be brought in— 

16 ‘‘(1) the judicial district in which the murder or 

17 other crime of violence occurred; or 

18 ‘‘(2) any judicial district in which the drug traf19 ficking crime may be prosecuted. 

20 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘crime of violence’ has the mean22 ing given that term in section 16 of title 18, United 

23 States Code; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘drug trafficking crime’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 924(c)(2) of title 

3 18, United States Code.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 for the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Con6 trol Act of 1970 is amended by inserting after the item 

7 relating to section 423, the following: 

‘‘Sec. 424. Murder and other violent crimes committed during and in relation 

to a drug trafficking crime.’’. 

8 SEC. 107. MULTIPLE INTERSTATE MURDER. 

9 (a) OFFENSE.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United States 

10 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 section: 

12 ‘‘§ 1123. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the 

13 commission of multiple murder 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whoever travels in or causes an15 other (including the intended victim) to travel in interstate 

16 or foreign commerce, or uses or causes another (including 

17 the intended victim) to use the mail or any facility of inter18 state or foreign commerce, or who conspires or attempts 

19 to do so, with intent that 2 or more intentional homicides 

20 be committed in violation of the laws of any State or the 

21 United States shall, in addition to being subject to a fine 

22 under this title— 

23 ‘‘(1) if the offense results in the death of any 

24 person, be sentenced to death or life in prison; 


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1 ‘‘(2) if the offense results is assault resulting in 

2 serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365), be 

3 imprisoned for life or any term of years not less 

4 than 20; and 

5 ‘‘(3) in any other case, be imprisoned for life or 

6 for any term of years not less than 10. 

7 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

8 the several States of the United States, the District of 

9 Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession 

10 of the United States.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of chapter 51 of title 18, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1123. Use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of multiple murder.’’. 

14 SEC. 108. ADDITIONAL RACKETEERING ACTIVITY. 

15 Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, or 

18 would have been so chargeable if the act or threat 

19 had not been committed in Indian country (as de20 fined in section 1151) or in any other area of exclu21 sive Federal jurisdiction,’’ after ‘‘chargeable under 

22 State law’’; and 

23 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘section 

24 1123 (relating to interstate murder),’’ after ‘‘section 


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1 1084 (relating to the transmission of gambling in2 formation),’’. 

3 SEC. 109. EXPANSION OF REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION 

4 AGAINST RELEASE OF PERSONS CHARGED 

5 WITH FIREARMS OFFENSES. 

6 Section 3142 of title 18, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (e), in the matter following 

9 paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘an offense under sub10 section (g)(1) (where the underlying conviction is a 

11 drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 

12 924(c))), (g)(2), (g)(4), (g)(5), (g)(8), or (g)(9) of 

13 section 922, or a crime of violence,’’ after ‘‘that the 

14 person committed’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (g), by amending paragraph 

16 (1) to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) the nature and circumstances of the of18 fense charged, including whether the offense is a 

19 crime of violence, or involves a controlled substance, 

20 firearm, explosive, or destructive devise;’’. 

21 SEC. 110. VENUE IN CAPITAL CASES. 

22 Section 3235 of title 18, United States Code, is 

23 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3235. Venue in capital cases 

2 ‘‘(a) The trial for any offense punishable by death 

3 shall be held in the district where the offense was com4 mitted or in any district in which the offense began, con5 tinued, or was completed. 

6 ‘‘(b) If the offense, or related conduct, under sub7 section (a) involves activities which affect interstate or for8 eign commerce, or the importation of an object or person 

9 into the United States, such offense may be prosecuted 

10 in any district in which those activities occurred.’’. 

11 SEC. 111. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR VIOLENT CRIME. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 213 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘§ 3298. Violent crime offenses 

16 ‘‘No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished 

17 for any noncapital felony, crime of violence, including any 

18 racketeering activity or gang crime which involves any 

19 crime of violence, unless the indictment is found or the 

20 information is instituted not later than 15 years after the 

21 date on which the alleged violation occurred or the con22 tinuing offense was completed.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 213 of title 18, United States 

25 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3298. Violent crime offenses.’’. 


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1 SEC. 112. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF CRIME OF VIO2 LENCE. 

3 Section 16(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) any other offense that is an offense pun6 ishable by imprisonment for more than one year and 

7 that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that 

8 physical force may be used against the person or 

9 property of another, or is an offense punishable 

10 under subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C) of section 

11 401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act.’’. 

12 SEC. 113. CLARIFICATION TO HEARSAY EXCEPTION FOR 

13 FORFEITURE BY WRONGDOING. 

14 Rule 804(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Evidence is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(6) FORFEITURE BY WRONGDOING.—A state17 ment offered against a party who has engaged or ac18 quiesced in wrongdoing, or who could reasonably 

19 foresee such wrongdoing would take place, if the 

20 wrongdoing was intended to, and did, procure the 

21 unavailability of the declarant as a witness.’’. 

22 SEC. 114. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR CRIMINAL USE OF 

23 FIREARMS IN CRIMES OF VIOLENCE AND 

24 DRUG TRAFFICKING. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 924(c) of title 18, United 

26 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

3 conspires to commit any of the above acts, 

4 shall, for each instance in which the firearm is 

5 used, carried, or possessed’’; 

6 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘5 years’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘7 years’’; and 

8 (C) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii) and in9 serting the following: 

10 ‘‘(ii) if the firearm is discharged, be sen11 tenced to a term of imprisonment of not less 

12 than 15 years; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) if the firearm is used to wound, in14 jure, or maim another person, be sentenced to 

15 a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 

16 years.’’; and 

17 (2) by striking paragraph (4). 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 924 of title 

19 18, United States Code, is amended by striking subsection 

20 (o). 

21 SEC. 115. TRANSFER OF JUVENILES. 

22 The 4th undesignated paragraph of section 5032 of 

23 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘A juvenile’’ where it appears at 

25 the beginning of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘ExVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:02 Jun 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2857.IH H2857

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1 cept as otherwise provided in this chapter, a juve2 nile’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘as an adult, except that, with’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘as an adult. With’’; and 

5 (3) by striking ‘‘However, a juvenile’’ and all 

6 that follows through ‘‘criminal prosecution.’’ at the 

7 end of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘The Attorney 

8 General may prosecute as an adult a juvenile who is 

9 alleged to have committed an act after that juve10 nile’s 16th birthday which if committed by an adult 

11 would be a crime of violence that is a felony, an of12 fense described in subsection (d), (i), (j), (k), (o), 

13 (p), (q), (u), or (x) of section 922 (relating to unlaw14 ful acts), or subsection (b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), (m), 

15 or (n) of section 924 (relating to penalties), section 

16 930 (relating to possession of firearms and dan17 gerous weapons in Federal facilities), or section 931 

18 (relating to purchase, ownership, or possession of 

19 body armor by violent felons). The decision whether 

20 or not to prosecute a juvenile as an adult under the 

21 immediately preceding sentence is not subject to ju22 dicial review in any court. In a prosecution under 

23 that sentence, the juvenile may be prosecuted and 

24 convicted as an adult for any other offense which is 

25 properly joined under the Federal Rules of Criminal 


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1 Procedure, and may also be convicted as an adult of 

2 any lesser included offense.’’. 

3 TITLE II—INCREASED FEDERAL 

4 RESOURCES TO DETER AND 

5 PREVENT AT-RISK YOUTH 

6 FROM JOINING ILLEGAL 

7 STREET GANGS 

8 SEC. 201. DESIGNATION OF AND ASSISTANCE FOR ‘‘HIGH IN9 TENSITY’’ INTERSTATE GANG ACTIVITY 

10 AREAS. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the following defi12 nitions shall apply: 

13 (1) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 

14 a Governor of a State or the Mayor of the District 

15 of Columbia. 

16 (2) HIGH INTENSITY INTERSTATE GANG ACTIV17 ITY AREA.—The term ‘‘high intensity interstate 

18 gang activity area’’ means an area within a State 

19 that is designated as a high intensity interstate gang 

20 activity area under subsection (b)(1). 

21 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 

22 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and 

23 any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

24 United States. 


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1 (b) HIGH INTENSITY INTERSTATE GANG ACTIVITY

2 AREAS.— 

3 (1) DESIGNATION.—The Attorney General, 

4 after consultation with the Governors of appropriate 

5 States, may designate as high intensity interstate 

6 gang activity areas, specific areas that are located 

7 within 1 or more States. 

8 (2) ASSISTANCE.—In order to provide Federal 

9 assistance to high intensity interstate gang activity 

10 areas, the Attorney General shall— 

11 (A) establish criminal street gang enforce12 ment teams, consisting of Federal, State, and 

13 local law enforcement authorities, for the co14 ordinated investigation, disruption, apprehen15 sion, and prosecution of criminal street gangs 

16 and offenders in each high intensity interstate 

17 gang activity area; 

18 (B) direct the reassignment or detailing 

19 from any Federal department or agency (sub20 ject to the approval of the head of that depart21 ment or agency, in the case of a department or 

22 agency other than the Department of Justice) 

23 of personnel to each criminal street gang en24 forcement team; 


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•HR 2857 IH

1 (C) provide all necessary funding for the 

2 operation of the criminal street gang enforce3 ment team in each high intensity interstate 

4 gang activity area; and 

5 (D) provide all necessary funding for na6 tional and regional meetings of criminal street 

7 gang enforcement teams, and all other related 

8 organizations, as needed, to ensure effective op9 eration of such teams through the sharing of 

10 intelligence, best practices and for any other re11 lated purpose. 

12 (3) COMPOSITION OF CRIMINAL STREET GANG

13 ENFORCEMENT TEAM.—The team established pursu14 ant to paragraph (2)(A) shall consist of agents and 

15 officers, where feasible, from— 

16 (A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

17 (B) the Drug Enforcement Administration; 

18 (C) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire19 arms, and Explosives; 

20 (D) the United States Marshals Service; 

21 (E) the Directorate of Border and Trans22 portation Security of the Department of Home23 land Security; 

24 (F) the Department of Housing and Urban 

25 Development; 


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•HR 2857 IH

1 (G) State and local law enforcement; and 

2 (H) Federal, State, and local prosecutors. 

3 (4) CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION.—In consid4 ering an area for designation as a high intensity 

5 interstate gang activity area under this section, the 

6 Attorney General shall consider— 

7 (A) the current and predicted levels of 

8 gang crime activity in the area; 

9 (B) the extent to which violent crime in 

10 the area appears to be related to criminal street 

11 gang activity, such as drug trafficking, murder, 

12 robbery, assaults, carjacking, arson, kidnap13 ping, extortion, and other criminal activity; 

14 (C) the extent to which State and local law 

15 enforcement agencies have committed resources 

16 to— 

17 (i) respond to the gang crime prob18 lem; and 

19 (ii) participate in a gang enforcement 

20 team; 

21 (D) the extent to which a significant in22 crease in the allocation of Federal resources 

23 would enhance local response to the gang crime 

24 activities in the area; and 


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•HR 2857 IH

1 (E) any other criteria that the Attorney 

2 General considers to be appropriate. 

3 (c) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEYS.—The 

4 Attorney General is authorized to hire 94 additional As5 sistant United States attorneys to carry out the provisions 

6 of this section. Each attorney hired under this subsection 

7 shall be assigned to a high intensity interstate gang activ8 ity area. 

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated— 

11 (1) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

12 2010 through 2014 to carry out subsection (b); and 

13 (2) $7,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 

14 through 2014 to carry out subsection (c). 

15 SEC. 202. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL PROSECUTORS TO 

16 COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME AND TO PROTECT 

17 WITNESSES AND VICTIMS OF CRIMES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 31702 of the Violent 

19 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 

20 U.S.C. 13862) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

22 end; 

23 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at 

24 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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•HR 2857 IH

1 ‘‘(5) to hire additional prosecutors to— 

2 ‘‘(A) allow more cases to be prosecuted; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) reduce backlogs; 

5 ‘‘(6) to fund technology, equipment, and train6 ing for prosecutors and law enforcement in order to 

7 increase accurate identification of gang members 

8 and violent offenders, and to maintain databases 

9 with such information to facilitate coordination 

10 among law enforcement and prosecutors; and 

11 ‘‘(7) to fund technology, equipment, and train12 ing for prosecutors to increase the accurate identi13 fication and successful prosecution of young violent 

14 offenders.’’. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

16 31707 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

17 Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated 

21 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

22 2014 to carry out this subtitle.’’. 

Æ 


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