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§ 3146. —  Penalty for failure to appear.



[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 18USC3146]

 
                 TITLE 18--CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 
                       PART II--CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
 
     CHAPTER 207--RELEASE AND DETENTION PENDING JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS
 
Sec. 3146. Penalty for failure to appear

    (a) Offense.--Whoever, having been released under this chapter 
knowingly--
        (1) fails to appear before a court as required by the conditions 
    of release; or
        (2) fails to surrender for service of sentence pursuant to a 
    court order;

shall be punished as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
    (b) Punishment.--(1) The punishment for an offense under this 
section is--
        (A) if the person was released in connection with a charge of, 
    or while awaiting sentence, surrender for service of sentence, or 
    appeal or certiorari after conviction for--
            (i) an offense punishable by death, life imprisonment, or 
        imprisonment for a term of 15 years or more, a fine under this 
        title or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both;
            (ii) an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 
        five years or more, a fine under this title or imprisonment for 
        not more than five years, or both;
            (iii) any other felony, a fine under this title or 
        imprisonment for not more than two years, or both; or
            (iv) a misdemeanor, a fine under this title or imprisonment 
        for not more than one year, or both; and

        (B) if the person was released for appearance as a material 
    witness, a fine under this chapter or imprisonment for not more than 
    one year, or both.

    (2) A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be 
consecutive to the sentence of imprisonment for any other offense.
    (c) Affirmative Defense.--It is an affirmative defense to a 
prosecution under this section that uncontrollable circumstances 
prevented the person from appearing or surrendering, and that the person 
did not contribute to the creation of such circumstances in reckless 
disregard of the requirement to appear or surrender, and that the person 
appeared or surrendered as soon as such circumstances ceased to exist.
    (d) Declaration of Forfeiture.--If a person fails to appear before a 
court as required, and the person executed an appearance bond pursuant 
to section 3142(b) of this title or is subject to the release condition 
set forth in clause (xi) or (xii) of section 3142(c)(1)(B) of this 
title, the judicial officer may, regardless of whether the person has 
been charged with an offense under this section, declare any property 
designated pursuant to that section to be forfeited to the United 
States.

(Added Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 203(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 
1982; amended Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 55(f), Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3609; 
Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXIII, Sec. 330016(2)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 
Stat. 2148; Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec. 601(a)(4), Oct. 11, 1996, 
110 Stat. 3498.)


                            Prior Provisions

    A prior section 3146, added Pub. L. 89-465, Sec. 3(a), June 22, 
1966, 80 Stat. 214; amended Pub. L. 97-291, Sec. 8, Oct. 12, 1982, 96 
Stat. 1257, related to release in noncapital cases prior to trial, prior 
to repeal in the revision of this chapter by section 203(a) of Pub. L. 
98-473.
    Another prior section 3146, act Aug. 20, 1954, ch. 772, Sec. 1, 68 
Stat. 747, which prescribed penalties for jumping bail, was repealed by 
Pub. L. 89-465, Sec. 3(a), June 22, 1966, 80 Stat. 214, and covered by 
former sections 3150 and 3151 of this title.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (b)(1)(A)(iv). Pub. L. 104-294 substituted ``a fine 
under this title'' for ``a fined under this title''.
    1994--Subsec. (b)(1)(A)(iv). Pub. L. 103-322 substituted ``fined 
under this title'' for ``fine under this chapter''.
    1986--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 55(f)(1), added subsec. (a) 
and struck out former subsec. (a) which read as follows: ``A person 
commits an offense if, after having been released pursuant to this 
chapter--
        ``(1) he knowingly fails to appear before a court as required by 
    the conditions of his release; or
        ``(2) he knowingly fails to surrender for service of sentence 
    pursuant to a court order.''
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 55(f)(1), added subsec. (b) and 
struck out former subsec. (b) which was captioned ``Grading'', and which 
read as follows: ``If the person was released--
        ``(1) in connection with a charge of, or while awaiting 
    sentence, surrender for service of sentence, or appeal or certiorari 
    after conviction, for--
            ``(A) an offense punishable by death, life imprisonment, or 
        imprisonment for a term of fifteen years or more, he shall be 
        fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than ten 
        years, or both;
            ``(B) an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 
        five or more years, but less than fifteen years, he shall be 
        fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five 
        years, or both;
            ``(C) any other felony, he shall be fined not more than 
        $5,000 or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both; or
            ``(D) a misdemeanor, he shall be fined not more than $2,000 
        or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both; or
        ``(2) for appearance as a material witness, he shall be fined 
    not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or 
    both.
A term of imprisonment imposed pursuant to this section shall be 
consecutive to the sentence of imprisonment for any other offense.''
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 55(f)(2), substituted 
``requirement to appear'' for ``requirement that he appear'' and ``the 
person appeared'' for ``he appeared''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 55(f)(3), inserted ``of this 
title'' after ``3142(b)'' and substituted ``clause (xi) or (xii) of 
section 3142(c)(1)(B) of this title'' for ``section 3142(c)(2)(K) or 
(c)(2)(L)''.


                    Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 99-646 effective 30 days after Nov. 10, 1986, 
see section 55(j) of Pub. L. 99-646, set out as a note under section 
3141 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 2516, 3156 of this title; 
title 8 section 1535; title 28 section 994; title 42 section 10601.



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