Federal Prison Sentences for White Collar Crimes
My question involves criminal law for the state of: California.
Can you give me examples of white collar crimes, or a combination of white collar crimes, that would be punishable with 5-6 years in FEDERAL prison? What would a white collar crime have to involve to become a federal?
Re: White Collar Crimes Punishable with 6 Years in Federal Prison
Money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1957 carries a maximum of 10 years, but would likely resolve with less depending on prior history. I can't think of any federal offenses that have 5 or 6 year maximums.
It's federal if it is a violation of a federal statute, such as the example I mentioned. Others would include things like: bankruptcy fraud, bribery, computer and internet fraud, counterfeiting, credit card fraud, economic espionage and trade secret theft, some types of embezzlement, environmental law violations, financial institution fraud, government fraud, healthcare fraud, insider trading, insurance fraud, intellectual property theft/piracy, kickbacks, mail fraud, money laundering, securities fraud, tax evasion, phone and telemarketing fraud, and public corruption.
Those came from a basic search, not from the top of my head ;-)
Re: White Collar Crimes Punishable with 6 Years in Federal Prison
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Vik Blot
My question involves criminal law for the state of: California.
Can you give me examples of white collar crimes, or a combination of white collar crimes, that would be punishable with 5-6 years in FEDERAL prison?
The federal tax evasion statute, 26 USC § 7201 is one example. It states: “Any person who willfully attempts in any manner to evade or defeat any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof shall, in addition to other penalties provided by law, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation), or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.” Of course, a lot of tax evaders do not get the full 5 years on just a single count of tax evasion, but the statute does allow for it.
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Vik Blot
What would a white collar crime have to involve to become a federal?
A federal crime is one that violates federal criminal law. Most federal crimes are those that fall into one of three general categories: (1) acts that violate national security or that are committed against the federal government itself; (2) acts that are committed on federal lands, ocean areas under the control of the United States or on ships that are U.S. flagged; and (3) acts that have some element of interstate activity. There are some federal crimes that do not fall into one of those categories but I think that will give you a sense of the sort of things that federal crimes target.
I might be able to give you some more examples of laws that might fit what you are looking for if you explain why you are asking the question. Are you writing a book where this is important? Is there a situation you are involved in that raises this issue? Something else? Knowing that would help narrow things down for a search.
Re: Federal Prison Sentences for White Collar Crimes
If you want to try to figure out what crime or crimes somebody was convicted of committing by looking at their sentence and working backwards, that's going to be an exercise in futility. Consider looking for a press release from the DOJ describing its successful prosecution of the defendant, as there's a good chance that one was posted online and that it will describe the conviction charges. You can also check the court records, if you are willing to pay the fee for electronic access or travel to the courthouse where the prosecution occurred.