Federal crime

In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is a crime that is either made illegal by U.S. federal legislation or a crime that occurs on U.S. federal property.

Mail fraud which crosses state lines or involves the (national) US Postal Service counts as a federal offense.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been granted powers to investigate federal offenses.

The term "federal offence" also has a separate meaning in Canada.

In drug related federal offenses mandatory minimums can be enforced. A mandatory minimum is a federally regulated minimum sentence for offenses of certain drugs.

Some federal crimes include kidnapping, tax evasion, counterfeiting, damaging or destroying mailboxes, art theft, arson, assault, immigration offences, and more recently, assassinating the President, though it wasn't deemed a federal crime until after President John F. Kennedy's death.

Prosecution guidelines are established by the US attorney in the federal judicial district and by laws that congress has already set-up.

No officer or employee of any government branch, while on duty for his/her official duties who shares information described in section 3701 is eligible for any monetary reward for giving information on terrorist acts and espionage.

Criminal procedures

The courts have the right to hold hearings against any person convicted of an offense against the United States if the offense is a misdemeanor, the defendant is a singular person and it is for the amount of 5 dollars in the case of a class C misdemeanor, the amount of ten dollars in the case of a class B misdemeanor, or the amount of twenty five dollars in the case of a class A misdemeanor. If the defendant is more than one individual, then it is in the case of an infraction of the amount of twenty five dollars in a class C misdemeanor, the amount of fifty dollars in the case of a class B misdemeanor or in the amount of one hundred and twenty five dollars in the case of a class A misdemeanor. If the case at hand is a felony than if the amount is of one hundred dollars or more if the defendant is only one individual and if there is more than one individual involved than the amount would have to be of more than four hundred dollars.

Witness protection

Witness protection is granted by the Attorney General of the United States or by the Secretary of State of the United States. When in the witness protection program only the witness and the witness’ immediate family are allowed to be taken into the program. In order to be eligible for the witness protect program one must have enough information that it is beneficial for the Attorney General.

External links

* [http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title18/title18.html US Code--Title 18--Crimes and Criminal Procedure]
* [http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title18a/title18a.html US Code--Title 18--Appendix]
* [http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/legislation.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation--Legislation]