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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 228. Failure to pay legal child support obligations
(a) Offense. - Any person who -
(1) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to
a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has
remained unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater
than $5,000;
(2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent
to evade a support obligation, if such obligation has remained
unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater than
$5,000; or
(3) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to
a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has
remained unpaid for a period longer than 2 years, or is greater
than $10,000;
shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
(b) Presumption. - The existence of a support obligation that was
in effect for the time period charged in the indictment or
information creates a rebuttable presumption that the obligor has
the ability to pay the support obligation for that time period.
(c) Punishment. - The punishment for an offense under this
section is -
(1) in the case of a first offense under subsection (a)(1), a
fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 6 months,
or both; and
(2) in the case of an offense under paragraph (2) or (3) of
subsection (a), or a second or subsequent offense under
subsection (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not
more than 2 years, or both.
(d) Mandatory Restitution. - Upon a conviction under this
section, the court shall order restitution under section 3663A in
an amount equal to the total unpaid support obligation as it exists
at the time of sentencing.
(e) Venue. - With respect to an offense under this section, an
action may be inquired of and prosecuted in a district court of the
United States for -
(1) the district in which the child who is the subject of the
support obligation involved resided during a period during which
a person described in subsection (a) (referred to in this
subsection as an "obliger") failed to meet that support
obligation;
(2) the district in which the obliger resided during a period
described in paragraph (1); or
(3) any other district with jurisdiction otherwise provided for
by law.
(f) Definitions. - As used in this section -
(1) the term "Indian tribe" has the meaning given that term in
section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of
1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a);
(2) the term "State" includes any State of the United States,
the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or
possession of the United States; and
(3) the term "support obligation" means any amount determined
under a court order or an order of an administrative process
pursuant to the law of a State or of an Indian tribe to be due
from a person for the support and maintenance of a child or of a
child and the parent with whom the child is living.
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