Section 1361 protects "any property" of the United States or an
agency
or department thereof, or any property being manufactured or constructed for
the
United States or an agency or department thereof, from willful depredation
or
attempted depredation. "Depredation" has been characterized as the act of
plundering, robbing, pillaging or laying waste. United States v.
Jenkins,
554 F.2d 783, 786 (6th Cir. 1977); cf. Deal v. United States,
274
U.S. 277, 283 (1927) ("depredation" defined in context of postal statute).
This
section prohibits actual physical damage or destruction of both real and
personal
property, but mere adverse possession of that property without physical harm
is
insufficient to violate the law. United States v. Jenkins,
supra,
554 F.2d at 785. Section 1361 is a specific intent crime, seeUnited
States v. Jones, 607 F.2d 269, 273-74 (9th Cir. 1979), cert.
denied,
444 U.S. 1085 (1980), and the government must prove that the defendant acted
willfully; that is intentionally, with knowledge that he/she is violating a
law.
United States v. Simpson, 460 F.2d 515, 518 (9th Cir. 1972);
United
States v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002, 1004 (4th Cir. 1969), cert.
denied,
397 U.S. 910 (1970). The government is not required to prove that defendant
knew
the property belonged to the government, because government ownership is
"merely
a 'jurisdictional fact'." United States v. LaPorta, 46 F.3d 152, 158
(2d
Cir. 1994), quotingUnited States v. Feola, 420 U.S. 671
(1975).
In fact, title or possession by the United States is not a necessary element
of
this offense, if the property in question was being made for the United
States.
The government must present evidence establishing value of damage.
United
States v. Seaman, 18 F.3d 649, 651 (9th Cir. 1994). The penalties for
violations of this section are tied to the extent of the property damage.
As
amended on September 13, 1994, if the damage exceeds $100, the defendant is
subject to a fine of up to $250,000, ten years imprisonment, or both.
See
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-322,
§
330016, 108 Stat. 1796, 2146-47 (1994). When property damage does not
exceed
$100, the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $100,000,
one
year imprisonment, or both. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3559(a), 3571.