Opinion ID: 17698
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Separate Offense or Sentence Enhancement?

Text: 28 Matthews argues that § 521 is a separate offense that must be charged by indictment, proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and submitted to a jury for its verdict as required by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. He offers no support for his construction of the statute. The government contends that § 521's text and structure, legislative history, and interpretation by the Sentencing Commission establish that it is a sentence enhancement statute and not a separate offense. 29 In determining whether a statute is a separate offense or merely a sentencing factor, we look to the statute's language, structure, subject matter, context, and history--factors that typically help courts determine a statute's objectives and thereby illuminate its text. Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 1223, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998). The government argues the text of § 521 demonstrates it is a sentence enhancement because § 521 does not contain any substantive crimes and explicitly refers to the crimes a person must be convicted of to suffer a penalty enhancement under this section. The government also asserts that § 521's heading, Penalty, denotes it as a penalty enhancing statute rather than a separate substantive crime. 30 The government argues that § 521's legislative history and treatment by the Sentencing Commission removes any doubt on the issue. A House Conference Report described legislation proposing § 521 as an amendment to provide increased penalties for Federal gang crimes. H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 103-711, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. 394 (1994). Legislators drafting the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act of 1997 and attempting to amend § 521 by changing it into a separate offense recognized that the current version of § 521 is merely a penalty enhancement statute. 31 Currently, 18 U.S.C. § 521 provides an additional sentence of up to 10 years for a gang member who [violates § 521]. Section 203 [of the bill] amends this section to address what the Committee believes is the evolving, broader nature of gang crime. In place of the sentence enhancement in current law, section 203 creates a separate criminal offense for the serial commission of various predicate gang crimes. 32 S.Rep. No. 105-108, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. 82 (1997). Additionally, the Sentencing Commission's classification of § 521 as a sentence enhancement provision rather than a criminal offense supports the government's position. We are persuaded by the overwhelming evidence of Congress' intent regarding § 521. For the above reasons, we hold that § 521 is a sentence enhancement statute rather than a separate offense.