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CITE

    18 USC Sec. 659                                             01/05/2009

EXPCITE

    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 31 - EMBEZZLEMENT AND THEFT

HEAD

    Sec. 659. Interstate or foreign shipments by carrier; State
      prosecutions

STATUTE

      Whoever embezzles, steals, or unlawfully takes, carries away, or
    conceals, or by fraud or deception obtains from any pipeline
    system, railroad car, wagon, motortruck, trailer, or other vehicle,
    or from any tank or storage facility, station, station house,
    platform or depot or from any steamboat, vessel, or wharf, or from
    any aircraft, air cargo container, air terminal, airport, aircraft
    terminal or air navigation facility, or from any intermodal
    container, trailer, container freight station, warehouse, or
    freight consolidation facility, with intent to convert to his own
    use any goods or chattels moving as or which are a part of or which
    constitute an interstate or foreign shipment of freight, express,
    or other property; or
      Whoever buys or receives or has in his possession any such goods
    or chattels, knowing the same to have been embezzled or stolen; or
      Whoever embezzles, steals, or unlawfully takes, carries away, or
    by fraud or deception obtains with intent to convert to his own use
    any baggage which shall have come into the possession of any common
    carrier for transportation in interstate or foreign commerce or
    breaks into, steals, takes, carries away, or conceals any of the
    contents of such baggage, or buys, receives, or has in his
    possession any such baggage or any article therefrom of whatever
    nature, knowing the same to have been embezzled or stolen; or
      Whoever embezzles, steals, or unlawfully takes by any fraudulent
    device, scheme, or game, from any railroad car, bus, vehicle,
    steamboat, vessel, or aircraft operated by any common carrier
    moving in interstate or foreign commerce or from any passenger
    thereon any money, baggage, goods, or chattels, or whoever buys,
    receives, or has in his possession any such money, baggage, goods,
    or chattels, knowing the same to have been embezzled or stolen -
      Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10
    years, or both, but if the amount or value of such money, baggage,
    goods, or chattels is less than $1,000, shall be fined under this
    title or imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or both.
      The offense shall be deemed to have been committed not only in
    the district where the violation first occurred, but also in any
    district in which the defendant may have taken or been in
    possession of the said money, baggage, goods, or chattels.
      The carrying or transporting of any such money, freight, express,
    baggage, goods, or chattels in interstate or foreign commerce,
    knowing the same to have been stolen, shall constitute a separate
    offense and subject the offender to the penalties under this
    section for unlawful taking, and the offense shall be deemed to
    have been committed in any district into which such money, freight,
    express, baggage, goods, or chattels shall have been removed or
    into which the same shall have been brought by such offender.
      To establish the interstate or foreign commerce character of any
    shipment in any prosecution under this section the waybill or other
    shipping document of such shipment shall be prima facie evidence of
    the place from which and to which such shipment was made. For
    purposes of this section, goods and chattel shall be construed to
    be moving as an interstate or foreign shipment at all points
    between the point of origin and the final destination (as evidenced
    by the waybill or other shipping document of the shipment),
    regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting transshipment or
    otherwise. The removal of property from a pipeline system which
    extends interstate shall be prima facie evidence of the interstate
    character of the shipment of the property.
      A judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the
    laws of any State shall be a bar to any prosecution under this
    section for the same act or acts. Nothing contained in this section
    shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Congress
    to occupy the field in which provisions of this section operate to
    the exclusion of State laws on the same subject matter, nor shall
    any provision of this section be construed as invalidating any
    provision of State law unless such provision is inconsistent with
    any of the purposes of this section or any provision thereof.

SOURCE

    (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 729; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, Sec.
    13, 63 Stat. 91; Pub. L. 89-654, Sec. 1(a)-(d), Oct. 14, 1966, 80
    Stat. 904; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(H), (K),
    Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec.
    606(a), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3511; Pub. L. 109-177, title III,
    Sec. 307(a), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 240.)

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

                                 1948 ACT
      Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Secs. 409, 410, 411 (Feb.
    13, 1913, ch. 50, Secs. 1, 2, 37 Stat. 670; Feb. 13, 1913, ch. 50,
    Sec. 3, as added Jan. 28, 1925, ch. 102, 43 Stat. 794; Jan. 28,
    1925, ch. 102, 43 Stat. 793, 794; Jan. 21, 1933, ch. 16, 47 Stat.
    773, 774; July 24, 1946, ch. 606, 60 Stat. 656.)
      This section consolidates sections 409, 410, and 411 of title 18,
    U.S.C., 1940 ed. First clause of said section 409 was incorporated
    in section 2117 of this title.
      In the paragraph immediately preceding the last paragraph the
    words "and to which" were added to obviate an inadvertent and
    incongruous omission in the enactment of act July 24, 1946, ch.
    606, Sec. 3, 60 Stat. 657. This is in harmony with corrective
    legislation pending before the Eightieth Congress.
      The definitions of "station house", "depot", "wagon",
    "automobile", "truck", or "other vehicle", contained in said
    section 409 of title 18, are omitted as unnecessary.
      The smaller punishment for an offense involving $100 or less was
    added. (See reviser's notes under sections 641 and 645 of this
    title.) This improvement was suggested by United States Attorney P.
    F. Herrick, of Puerto Rico. (See reviser's note under section 641
    of this title.)
      Minor changes were made in phraseology.
                                 1949 ACT
      This section [section 13] inserts the word, "embezzled" preceding
    "or stolen" near the ends of the second and fourth paragraphs of
    section 659 of title 18, U.S.C., to restore the language of the
    original law from which such section was derived. Also, for
    clarity, substitutes, "whoever" for "who" preceding "buys" in said
    fourth paragraph of section 659.
                         SENATE REVISION AMENDMENT
      The "corrective legislation", referred to in this paragraph,
    became Act April 16, 1947, ch. 39, 61 Stat. 52, and, as it amended
    section 411 of title 18, U.S.C., such act was an additional source
    of this section.
                                AMENDMENTS
      2006 - Pub. L. 109-177, in first par., inserted "trailer," after
    "motortruck,", "air cargo container," after "aircraft,", and ", or
    from any intermodal container, trailer, container freight station,
    warehouse, or freight consolidation facility," after "air
    navigation facility", in fifth par., substituted "be fined under
    this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both, but if
    the amount or value of such money, baggage, goods, or chattels is
    less than $1,000, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for
    not more than 3 years, or both" for "in each case be fined under
    this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; but if
    the amount or value of such money, baggage, goods or chattels does
    not exceed $1,000, he shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
    not more than one year, or both", and, in eighth par., inserted
    "For purposes of this section, goods and chattel shall be construed
    to be moving as an interstate or foreign shipment at all points
    between the point of origin and the final destination (as evidenced
    by the waybill or other shipping document of the shipment),
    regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting transshipment or
    otherwise." after first sentence.
      1996 - Pub. L. 104-294 substituted "$1,000" for "$100" in fifth
    par.
      1994 - Pub. L. 103-322, in fifth par., substituted "fined under
    this title" for "fined not more than $5,000" after "Shall in each
    case be" and for "fined not more than $1,000" after "he shall be".
      1966 - Pub. L. 89-654 substituted "shipments by carrier" for
    "baggage, express, or freight" in section catchline, inserted
    "pipeline system" and "tank or storage facility" and substituted
    "freight, express, or other property" for "freight or express" in
    first par., provided in eighth par. that the removal of property
    from a pipeline system which extends interstate shall be prima
    facie evidence of the interstate character of the shipment of the
    property, and, in ninth par., prohibited any construction which
    indicated an intent on the part of Congress to occupy the field to
    the exclusion of State laws or to invalidate inconsistent State
    provisions.
      1949 - Act May 24, 1949, inserted "embezzled or" before "stolen"
    in second par., and substituted "whoever" for "who" before "buys"
    in fourth par.
                ANNUAL REPORT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
      Pub. L. 109-177, title III, Sec. 307(d), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat.
    240, provided that: "The Attorney General shall annually submit to
    Congress a report, which shall include an evaluation of law
    enforcement activities relating to the investigation and
    prosecution of offenses under section 659 of title 18, United
    States Code, as amended by this title."