CITE

    18 USC Sec. 521                                             01/05/2009

EXPCITE

    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 26 - CRIMINAL STREET GANGS

HEAD

    Sec. 521. Criminal street gangs

STATUTE

      (a) Definitions. -
        "conviction" includes a finding, under State or Federal law,
      that a person has committed an act of juvenile delinquency
      involving a violent or controlled substances felony.
        "criminal street gang" means an ongoing group, club,
      organization, or association of 5 or more persons -
          (A) that has as 1 of its primary purposes the commission of 1
        or more of the criminal offenses described in subsection (c);
          (B) the members of which engage, or have engaged within the
        past 5 years, in a continuing series of offenses described in
        subsection (c); and
          (C) the activities of which affect interstate or foreign
        commerce.
        "State" means a State of the United States, the District of
      Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the
      United States.
      (b) Penalty. - The sentence of a person convicted of an offense
    described in subsection (c) shall be increased by up to 10 years if
    the offense is committed under the circumstances described in
    subsection (d).
      (c) Offenses. - The offenses described in this section are -
        (1) a Federal felony involving a controlled substance (as
      defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21
      U.S.C. 802)) for which the maximum penalty is not less than 5
      years;
        (2) a Federal felony crime of violence that has as an element
      the use or attempted use of physical force against the person of
      another; and
        (3) a conspiracy to commit an offense described in paragraph
      (1) or (2).
      (d) Circumstances. - The circumstances described in this section
    are that the offense described in subsection (c) was committed by a
    person who -
        (1) participates in a criminal street gang with knowledge that
      its members engage in or have engaged in a continuing series of
      offenses described in subsection (c);
        (2) intends to promote or further the felonious activities of
      the criminal street gang or maintain or increase his or her
      position in the gang; and
        (3) has been convicted within the past 5 years for -
          (A) an offense described in subsection (c);
          (B) a State offense -
            (i) involving a controlled substance (as defined in section
          102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) for
          which the maximum penalty is not less than 5 years'
          imprisonment; or
            (ii) that is a felony crime of violence that has as an
          element the use or attempted use of physical force against
          the person of another;
          (C) any Federal or State felony offense that by its nature
        involves a substantial risk that physical force against the
        person of another may be used in the course of committing the
        offense; or
          (D) a conspiracy to commit an offense described in
        subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).

SOURCE

    (Added Pub. L. 103-322, title XV, Sec. 150001(a), Sept. 13, 1994,
    108 Stat. 2034; amended Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec. 607(q),
    Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3513; Pub. L. 107-273, div. B, title IV,
    Sec. 4002(b)(3), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1807.)

AMENDMENTS

      2002 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107-273 realigned margins of par.
    defining "State".
      1996 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-294 inserted par. defining
    "State" at end.