1426
Destruction of Motor Vehicles
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Section 33 makes it a Federal crime willfully, with intent to
endanger
the safety of any person on board or anyone he/she believes may be on board,
to
disable, destroy, tamper with, or place or cause to be placed any explosive
or
other destructive substance in, upon, or in proximity to any motor vehicle
which
is used, operated, or employed in interstate or foreign commerce, or its
cargo
or material used or intended to be used in connection with its operation.
The
defendant must willfully cause the injury to the motor vehicle. United
States
v. Kurka, 818 F.2d 1427 (9th Cir. 1987). The motor vehicle must be one
used
for commercial purposes to transport persons and/or property on the
highways.
(Prior to October 12, 1984, trucks carrying only cargo were not covered, but
they
now are. (See Part I of Chapter X of the Comprehensive Crime Control
Act
of 1984, Pub.L. No. 98-473, October 12, 1984.)) In United States v.
Lowe,
65 F.3d 1137 (4th Cir. 1995), the Fourth Circuit construed the term "used"
to
require only that the motor vehicle be used by a business engaged in
interstate
commerce and not that the vehicle itself had to actually travel in
interstate commerce. Id. at 1143.
While the normal penalty for a violation of § 33 is a fine
under
Title 18, or imprisonment not more than 20 years, or both, as of January 1,
1996,
Congress increased the period of incarceration to a mandatory term of not
less
than 30 years if the motor vehicle, at the time of the offense, carried
high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel. See 18 U.S.C.
§
33(b).
[cited in USAM 9-139.020; USAM 9-63.200] | |