1504

Purpose of 18 U.S.C. § 1028

Section 1028 of Title 18 is intended to give the federal prosecutor an effective tool with reasonable penalties to deal with the federal aspects of the false identification problem involving governmental identification documents and certain implements used in manufacturing those documents. Different provisions of the section may be applicable to crimes involving terrorism, illegal immigration, organized crime, narcotic trafficking, welfare fraud, white collar crime, smuggling, firearms violations, and flight from justice, to name a few. 18 U.S.C. § 1028 is limited to governmental identification documents, but it is very broad because it covers all those issued by federal, state, local, foreign, international and quasi-international governmental entities. Section 1028 requires that the indictment be drafted to describe properly (1) the prohibited act,(2) the federal jurisdictional circumstances, and (3) the facts necessary for a determination of the appropriate penalty. [cited in USAM 9-64.400]