Opinion ID: 483820
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Aggregation of Fines

Text: 10 Ramirez contends that, since $250,000 was the maximum he could be fined on any one of the offenses of which he was convicted, the maximum total fine that the court could properly impose on him was $500,000 rather than $1,000,000. He relies on 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3623(c)(2), which provides, in pertinent part that 11 the aggregate of fines that a court may impose on a defendant at the same time for different offenses that arise from a common scheme or plan, and that do not cause separable or distinguishable kinds of harm or damage, is twice the amount imposable for the most serious offense. 12 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3623(c)(2) (Supp. III 1985) (repealed effective Nov. 1, 1987, Pub.L. 98-473, tit. II, Secs. 212(a)(2), 235(a)(1), 98 Stat.1987, 2031 (1984), as amended by Pub.L. 99-217, Sec. 4, 99 Stat. 1728 (1985)). His reliance is misplaced. 13 The different interests protected by prohibitions against importation and against possession with intent to distribute are obvious. The latter is aimed principally against the distribution of narcotics; the former implicates as well the United States' interests in the integrity of its borders. Further, conspiracies have traditionally been viewed as offenses that cause kinds of harm that are distinguishable from the harm caused by the underlying substantive offenses. See Callanan v. United States, 364 U.S. 587, 593-94, 81 S.Ct. 321, 325, 5 L.Ed2d 312 (1961) (collective criminal agreement is a greater potential threat to the public than the individual delicts because, inter alia, it makes possible the attainment of more complex aims and makes more likely the commission of crimes unrelated to the original purpose for which the group was formed); United States v. Rabinowich, 238 U.S. 78, 88, 35 S.Ct. 682, 684, 59 L.Ed. 1211 (1915) (conspiracy is an essentially different offense because, inter alia, [i]t involves deliberate plotting to subvert the laws, educating and preparing the conspirators for further and habitual criminal practices). 14 There is no legislative history indicating that, in enacting Sec. 3623(c)(2), Congress held other than these traditional views. Rather, the legislative history of the identically-worded section that is to replace Sec. 3623(c)(2) upon the latter's repeal, see 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3572(b) (added, effective Nov. 1, 1987, by Pub.L. 98-473, tit. II, Secs. 212(a)(2), 235(a)(1), 98 Stat.1987, 2031, as amended), indicates that the limitation was designed principally to prevent an accumulation of fines for numerous minor offenses arising out of a pattern of conduct violating administrative regulations. Thus, the report of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary stated that the section was included in response to concerns that there might be some offenses, particularly regulatory offenses, where an ongoing pattern of conduct constitute[s] numerous minor offenses. S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 108-09, reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3182, 3291-92. 15 None of the offenses of which Ramirez was convicted was minor; and since each caused a distinguishable kind of harm, the court was entitled to aggregate the fines on each count without limitation.