§ 80501. — Damage to transported property.
[Laws in effect as of January 7, 2003]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 7, 2003 and December 19, 2003]
[CITE: 49USC80501]
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
SUBTITLE X--MISCELLANEOUS
CHAPTER 805--MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 80501. Damage to transported property
(a) Criminal Penalty.--A person willfully damaging, or attempting to
damage, property in the possession of an air carrier, motor carrier, or
rail carrier and being transported in interstate or foreign commerce,
shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or
both. In a criminal proceeding under this section, a shipping document
for the property is prima facie evidence of the places to which and from
which the property was being transported.
(b) Prohibition Against Multiple Prosecutions for Same Act.--A
person may not be prosecuted for an act under this section when the
person has been convicted or acquitted on the merits for the same act
under the laws of a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory or
possession of the United States.
(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1356.)
Historical and Revision Notes
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Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
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80501(a).............................. 15:1281. Sept. 13, 1961, Pub. L. 87-221, 75
Stat. 494.
80501(b).............................. 15:1282.
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In subsection (a), the words ``A person . . . shall be fined under
title 18'' are substituted for ``It shall be unlawful for any person''
and ``Whoever violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section
shall be fined not more than $5,000'' to eliminate unnecessary words and
for consistency with title 18. The word ``damaging'' is substituted for
``destroy or injure'' because it is inclusive. The words ``air carrier,
motor carrier, or rail carrier'' are substituted for ``common or
contract carrier by railroad, motor vehicle, or aircraft'', and the
words ``being transported'' are substituted for ``moving'', for
consistency in the revised title. The words ``In a criminal proceeding
under this section'' are substituted for ``To establish the interstate
or foreign commerce character of any property involved in any
prosecution under this section'' to eliminate unnecessary words. The
words ``shipping document'' are substituted for ``waybill or similar
shipping document'' because they are inclusive.
In subsection (b), the words ``A person may not be prosecuted for an
act under this section when the person has been convicted or acquitted
on the merits for the same act'' are substituted for ``A judgment of
conviction or acquittal on the merits . . . shall be a bar to any
prosecution under this chapter for the same act or acts'' for clarity.
The word ``territory'' is added for consistency in the revised title and
with other titles of the United States Code. The words ``or the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico'' are omitted as unnecessary because of
48:734.
