AMENDMENT 554

Amendment: Section 2B5.1(b) is amended by inserting after subdivision (3) the following additional subdivision:

"(4) If any part of the offense was committed outside the United States, increase by 2 levels.".

The Commentary to §2B5.1 captioned "Statutory Provisions" is amended by deleting "471" and inserting in lieu thereof "470".

The Commentary to §2B5.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended by redesignating Notes 1 through 3 as Notes 2 through 4; and by inserting as the new Note 1:

"1. For purposes of this guideline, ‘United States’ means each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.".

Reason for Amendment: This amendment addresses section 807(h) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1308, which requires the Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to provide an appropriate enhancement for a defendant convicted of an international counterfeiting offense under 18 U.S.C. § 470. The amendment adds a specific offense characteristic in §2B5.1 (Offenses Involving Counterfeit Bearer Obligations of the United States) to provide a two-level enhancement if the offense occurred outside the United States.

Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1997.