1835

Harboring—After Conviction Of Any Offense

As discussed above, 18 U.S.C. § 1071 creates a five year felony for harboring a person sought on a felony warrant, or "after conviction of such person of any offense." The felony provision was added to Section 1071 in 1954. See S.Rep. No. 2141, 83rd Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1954 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 3072; H.R.Rep. No. 1928, 83rd Cong., 2d Sess. 2-3 (1954). An issue that has been raised in connection with the 1954 amendment to section 1071 is whether the harboring of a convicted misdemeanant for whose arrest a warrant has been issued constitutes a felony under Section 1071. The only reported decision to consider the issue held that because the statutory term "offense" includes both felonies and misdemeanors, 18 U.S.C. § 1, the harboring of a convicted misdemeanant constitutes a felony under 18 U.S.C. §  1071. See United States v. Faul, 748 F.2d 1204, 1223 (8th Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 472 U.S. 1027 (1985). However, the court in Faul emphasized that its ruling is "limited to the situation where the offense for which the fugitive is sought is directly related to the crime - misdemeanor or felony - for which the fugitive was convicted, as is the case here." Id. at 1223 n. 12.