Never Hanging Defendants Out to Dry: Preserving the Policy Behind the Statute of Limitations in Money Laundering Conspiracies

Authors

David Marusarz, Valparaiso University

Abstract

How should conspiracies to commit money laundering that rely on stale evidence be handled by the federal government? Marusarz argues that an amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act is needed to preserve a defendant’s interest in having a conspiracy prosecution based on evidence proving the existence of a money laundering conspiracy long after the actual conspiracy to launder money has ended.

The Money Laundering Control Act is widely applicable and implies that prosecutors have an unlimited amount of time to bring an indictment for conspiracy to launder money due to the complexity of money laundering crimes. Marusarz proposes amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act that provide temporal limits on conspiracy charges brought under the Act. The proposed amendment provides that prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 1956 must be brought within five years of the last overt act committed in furtherance of any money laundering offenses.

Recommended Citation

David Marusarz, Never Hanging Defendants Out to Dry: Preserving the Policy Behind the Statute of Limitations in Money Laundering Conspiracies, 45 Val. U. L. Rev. 253 (2010).
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol45/iss1/9