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18 USC Sec. 1341 01/22/02
-EXPCITE TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 63 - MAIL FRAUD
-HEAD
Sec. 1341. Frauds and swindles
-STATUTE
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use any counterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any such matter or thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.
-SOURCE-
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 763; May 24, 1949, ch. 139,
Sec. 34, 63 Stat. 94; Pub. L. 91-375, Sec. (6)(j)(11), Aug. 12,
1970, 84 Stat. 778; Pub. L. 101-73, title IX, Sec. 961(i), Aug.
9, 1989, 103 Stat. 500; Pub. L. 101-647, title XXV, Sec. 2504(h),
Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4861; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXV, Sec.
250006, title XXXIII, Sec. 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108
Stat. 2087, 2147.)
-MISC1-
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
1948 ACT Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 338 (Mar.
4, 1909, ch. 321, Sec. 215, 35 Stat. 1130).
The obsolete argot of the underworld was deleted as suggested by
Hon. Emerich B. Freed, United States district judge, in a paper
read before the 1944 Judicial Conference for the sixth circuit in
which he said:
A brief reference to Sec. 1341, which proposes to reenact the
present section covering the use of the mails to defraud. This
section is almost a page in length, is involved, and contains a
great deal of superfluous language, including such terms as
''sawdust swindle, green articles, green coin, green goods and
green cigars.'' This section could be greatly simplified, and
now-meaningless language eliminated.
The other surplusage was likewise eliminated and the section
simplified without change of meaning.
A reference to causing to be placed any letter, etc. in any post
office, or station thereof, etc. was omitted as unnecessary
because of definition of ''principal'' in section 2 of this
title.
1949 ACT
This section (section 34) corrects a typographical error in
section 1341 of title 18, U.S.C.
AMENDMENTS
1994 - Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330016(1)(H), substituted ''fined under this title'' for ''fined not more than $1,000'' after ''thing, shall be''.
Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 250006, inserted ''or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing whatever to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier,'' after ''Postal Service,'' and ''or such carrier'' after ''causes to be delivered by mail''.
1990 - Pub. L. 101-647 substituted ''30'' for ''20'' before ''years''.
1989 - Pub. L. 101-73 inserted at end ''If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.''
1970 - Pub. L. 91-375 substituted ''Postal Service'' for ''Post Office Department''.
1949 - Act May 24, 1949, substituted ''of'' for ''or'' after ''dispose''.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1970 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 91-375 effective within 1 year after Aug.
12, 1970, on date established therefor by Board of Governors of
United States Postal Service and published by it in Federal
Register, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91-375, set out as an
Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal
Service.
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SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 24, 225, 981, 982, 1342,
1510, 1961, 2326, 2516, 3059A, 3293, 3322 of this title; title 7
section 12a; title 12 sections 1785, 1786, 1787, 1821, 1828,
1829, 1831k, 1833a, 2277a-10b; title 15 sections 78o, 80b-3;
title 39 sections 3001, 3003.