21 U.S.C. § 848
Continuing criminal enterprise
United States · Title 21 — FOOD AND DRUGS · Status: effective
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- Citation
- 21 U.S.C. § 848, Continuing criminal enterprise, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/454641
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Full text
Any person who engages in a continuing criminal enterprise shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than 20 years and which may be up to life imprisonment, to a fine not to exceed the greater of that authorized in accordance with the provisions of title 18 or $2,000,000 if the defendant is an individual or $5,000,000 if the defendant is other than an individual, and to the forfeiture prescribed in section 853 of this title; except that if any person engages in such activity after one or more prior convictions of him under this section have become final, he shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than 30 years and which may be up to life imprisonment, to a fine not to exceed the greater of twice the amount authorized in accordance with the provisions of title 18 or $4,000,000 if the defendant is an individual or $10,000,000 if the defendant is other than an individual, and to the forfeiture prescribed in section 853 of this title.
Any person who engages in a continuing criminal enterprise shall be imprisoned for life and fined in accordance with subsection (a), if—
For purposes of subsection (a), a person is engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise if—
such violation is a part of a continuing series of violations of this subchapter or subchapter II—
In the case of any sentence imposed under this section, imposition or execution of such sentence shall not be suspended, probation shall not be granted, and the Act of July 15, 1932 (D.C. Code, secs. 24–203—24–207), shall not apply.
In addition to the other penalties set forth in this section—
For the purposes of subsection (b), in the case of continuing criminal enterprise involving methamphetamine or its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers, paragraph (2)(A) shall be applied by substituting “200” for “300”, and paragraph (2)(B) shall be applied by substituting “$5,000,000” for “$10 million dollars”.
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone. The law that originally enacted this section predates the public laws loaded here, so only later amendments are listed.
- A joint resolution making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 1985, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
- Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
- USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005