AMENDMENT 342

Amendment: The Introductory Commentary to Chapter Two, Part S, is deleted in its entirety as follows:

"Introductory Commentary

Money laundering activities are essential to the operation of organized crime. Congress recently enacted new statutes prohibiting these activities and increased the maximum penalties.

The guidelines provide substantially increased punishments for these offenses. In fiscal year 1985, the time served by defendants convicted of felonies involving monetary transaction reporting under 31 U.S.C. §§ 5313, 5316, and 5322 averaged about ten months, and only a few defendants served as much as four to five years. However, courts have been imposing higher sentences as they come to appreciate the seriousness of this activity, and sentences as long as thirty-five years have been reported. Specifically, Congress made all reporting violations felonies in 1984, and enacted the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 (18 U.S.C. §§ 1956, 1957), which creates new offenses and provides higher maximum sentences when knowledge, facilitation or concealment of serious criminal activity is proved.".

Reason for Amendment: This amendment deletes the introductory commentary to this part as outdated, inconsistent with the commentaries to other sections, and better covered in the individual commentaries to the offenses contained in the part.

Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1990.