NCJ Number
146187
Date Published
1992
Length
86 pages
Annotation
The Money Laundering Working Group of the U.S. Sentencing Commission examined the guidelines found in Part S, Chapter Two of the Guidelines Manual, particularly focusing on those pertaining to sections 2S1.1 and 2S1.2 and to sections 2S1.3 and 2S1.4.
Abstract
Because the statutory offense of conviction governed by 2S1.1 covers a wide range of conduct, it often happens that when a money laundering count is charged, the sentence can be significantly higher than it would have been had the underlying offense been charged alone. In a high percentage of cases, defendants convicted of money laundering also participated in the underlying conduct, yet the offense level for the money laundering conduct exceeded that for the underlying conduct 52.5 percent of the time in drug cases and 96 percent of the time in nondrug cases. The task force found that the courts have questioned the appropriateness of the offense levels for money laundering offenses. The report suggests that the guidelines might be made more effective by bringing money laundering base offense levels more in line with underlying conduct and by establishing specific offense characteristics sensitive to factors including sophistication of the money laundering conduct. 5 appendixes