The BAD Act would ensure that the statute of limitations for federal bribery offenses does not begin until the crime is discovered.
Norma Torres will close the federal bribery statute-of-limitations loophole by making the limitations period for federal bribery offenses begin when the offense is discovered or reported to federal law enforcement.
Occurrences
Evidence
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Current 18 U.S.C. 3282(a) says non-capital federal offenses must be charged within five years after the offense was committed, except as otherwise expressly provided by law.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Current 18 U.S.C. 201 remains the federal bribery statute for public officials and witnesses; the text available in the current-law U.S. Code snapshot does not include a discovery-or-reporting trigger for the limitations period.
Assessments
The promised outcome would require a federal statutory change so that the limitations period for federal bribery offenses starts when the offense is discovered or reported to federal law enforcement. Current 18 U.S.C. 3282(a) still uses the default five-year period running from when the offense was committed, and current 18 U.S.C. 201 does not contain the promised discovery/reporting trigger. I found no evidence that Torres-sponsored or Torres-advanced legislation enacted this change. Related anti-corruption or limitations proposals that do not create this trigger are insufficient for delivery.