18 USC § 506 - Seals of departments or agencies | Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

USCPrelim is a preliminary release and may be subject to further revision before it is released again as a final version.

Current through Pub. L. 112-283. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

(a) Whoever—

(1) falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, mutilates, or alters the seal of any department or agency of the United States, or any facsimile thereof;

(2) knowingly uses, affixes, or impresses any such fraudulently made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered seal or facsimile thereof to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper of any description; or

(3) with fraudulent intent, possesses, sells, offers for sale, furnishes, offers to furnish, gives away, offers to give away, transports, offers to transport, imports, or offers to import any such seal or facsimile thereof, knowing the same to have been so falsely made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered,

shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other provision of law, if a forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered seal of a department or agency of the United States, or any facsimile thereof, is—

(1) so forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered;

(2) used, affixed, or impressed to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper of any description; or

(3) with fraudulent intent, possessed, sold, offered for sale, furnished, offered to furnish, given away, offered to give away, transported, offered to transport, imported, or offered to import,

with the intent or effect of facilitating an alien’s application for, or receipt of, a Federal benefit to which the alien is not entitled, the penalties which may be imposed for each offense under subsection (a) shall be two times the maximum fine, and 3 times the maximum term of imprisonment, or both, that would otherwise be imposed for an offense under subsection (a).

(c) For purposes of this section—

(1) the term “Federal benefit” means—

(A) the issuance of any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by any agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and

(B) any retirement, welfare, Social Security, health (including treatment of an emergency medical condition in accordance with section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act (19 ^[1] U.S.C. 1396b(v))), disability, veterans, public housing, education, supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits, ^[2] or unemployment benefit, or any similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and

(2) each instance of forgery, counterfeiting, mutilation, or alteration shall constitute a separate offense under this section.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “42”.

[2] So in original. The word “benefits” probably should not appear.

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(a) Whoever—

(1) falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, mutilates, or alters the seal of any department or agency of the United States, or any facsimile thereof;

(2) knowingly uses, affixes, or impresses any such fraudulently made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered seal or facsimile thereof to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper of any description; or

(3) with fraudulent intent, possesses, sells, offers for sale, furnishes, offers to furnish, gives away, offers to give away, transports, offers to transport, imports, or offers to import any such seal or facsimile thereof, knowing the same to have been so falsely made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered,

shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other provision of law, if a forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered seal of a department or agency of the United States, or any facsimile thereof, is—

(1) so forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered;

(2) used, affixed, or impressed to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper of any description; or

(3) with fraudulent intent, possessed, sold, offered for sale, furnished, offered to furnish, given away, offered to give away, transported, offered to transport, imported, or offered to import,

with the intent or effect of facilitating an alien’s application for, or receipt of, a Federal benefit to which the alien is not entitled, the penalties which may be imposed for each offense under subsection (a) shall be two times the maximum fine, and 3 times the maximum term of imprisonment, or both, that would otherwise be imposed for an offense under subsection (a).

(c) For purposes of this section—

(1) the term “Federal benefit” means—

(A) the issuance of any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by any agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and

(B) any retirement, welfare, Social Security, health (including treatment of an emergency medical condition in accordance with section 1903(v) of the Social Security Act (19 ^[1] U.S.C. 1396b(v))), disability, veterans, public housing, education, supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits, ^[2] or unemployment benefit, or any similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and

(2) each instance of forgery, counterfeiting, mutilation, or alteration shall constitute a separate offense under this section.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “42”.

[2] So in original. The word “benefits” probably should not appear.

Source

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 714; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K),Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title V, § 561,Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–681; Pub. L. 110–234, title IV, § 4002(b)(1)(E), (2)(M),May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1096, 1097; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title IV, § 4002(b)(1)(E), (2)(M),June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1857, 1858.)

Historical and revision Notes

Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 131 (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title X, § 2,40 Stat. 228).

Reference to persons causing, procuring, aiding or assisting was omitted as unnecessary as such persons are made principals by section 2 of this title.

In view of definitions of department and agency in section 6 of this title, words “department or agency” in first paragraph were substituted for “executive department, or any bureau, commission, or office”.

Provision for 10 years’ imprisonment was reduced to 5 years to conform to punishment provision in section 505 of this title, covering an offense of like gravity.

Minor changes in phraseology were also made.

Codification

Pub. L. 110–234and Pub. L. 110–246made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234were repealed by section 4(a) ofPub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (c)(1)(B). Pub. L. 110–246, § 4002(b)(1)(E), (2)(M), substituted “supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits” for “food stamps”.

1996—Pub. L. 104–208reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows:

“Whoever falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, mutilates, or alters the seal of any department or agency of the United States; or

“Whoever knowingly uses, affixes, or impresses any such fraudulently made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered seal to or upon any certificate, instrument, commission, document, or paper, of any description; or

“Whoever, with fraudulent intent, possesses any such seal, knowing the same to have been so falsely made, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered—

“Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

1994—Pub. L. 103–322substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”.

Effective Date of 2008 Amendment

Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234by Pub. L. 110–246effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 ofPub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of Title 7, Agriculture.

Amendment by section 4002(b)(1)(E), (2)(M) ofPub. L. 110–246effective Oct. 1, 2008, see section 4407 ofPub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 1161 of Title 2, The Congress.

The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.

The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Wednesday, February 6, 2013

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18 USC	Description of Change	Session Year	Public Law	Statutes at Large

This is a list of parts within the Code of Federal Regulations for which this US Code section provides rulemaking authority.

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36 CFR - Title 36—Parks, Forests, and Public Property

36 CFR 1200 - OFFICIAL SEALS

45 CFR - Title 45—Public Welfare

45 CFR 2540 - GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

18 USC § 506 - Seals of departments or agencies

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