NCJ Number
174815
Date Published
1996
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Congress directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review the deterrent effect of existing sentencing guidelines pertaining to computer crime and to amend the guidelines to the extent necessary to ensure that an individual convicted of computer fraud would face a minimum imprisonment term of 6 months.
Abstract
In reviewing approximately 80 percent of guideline convictions, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has found that Federal computer crime cases sentenced under the guidelines are relatively uncommon. An estimated 60 defendants have been successfully prosecuted and sentenced in the 9 years since the guidelines came into existence. Overall, Federal district judges have historically sentenced a higher percentage of those convicted of computer crime than individuals convicted of other white-collar crimes and Federal defendants in general. Computer crime defendants receive downward departures from guideline ranges more frequently than other white-collar defendants and Federal defendants in general. To date, no person convicted of computer crime under the guidelines has received a sentence that departed upward from the guideline range. Defendants convicted of computer crime tend to have more formal education than other white-collar defendants and much more formal education than Federal defendants in general. 18 footnotes and 4 tables