§ 701. Statute of Limitations.

(2) Limitation Periods Generally. Except as provided in subsections (3)-(5), prosecution must be commenced within the following periods after the offense:

(a) ten years for sections 1101 (Treason), 1102 (Participating in or Facilitating War Against the United States Within Its Territory) and 1112 (Espionage). Any prosecution commenced more than five years after the offense shall be dismissed if the defendant, on a motion addressed to the court, establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the crime and his connection with it were known to responsible officials for more than one year prior to commencement of prosecution and that prosecution could, with reasonable diligence, have been commenced more than one year prior to its commencement;


(b) five years for all other felonies; and


(c) three years for all other offenses.

(4) Extended Period for Organized Crime and Official Cover-Ups. The period of limitation shall be ten years for any felony committed in the course of the operation of a criminal syndicate involving connivance of a public servant. A prosecution which is timely only by virtue of this subsection shall be dismissed as to any defendant who, on a motion addressed to the court, establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he was not a leader of the criminal syndicate or a public servant conniving in any part of the criminal business charged, or that the crime and his connection with it were known to responsible officials other than conniving participants more than one year prior to commencement of prosecution and prosecution could, with reasonable diligence, have been commenced more than one year prior to its commencement. "Leader" means one who organizes, manages, directs, supervises or finances a criminal syndicate or knowingly employs violence or intimidation to promote or facilitate its criminal objects, or with intent to promote or facilitate its criminal objects, furnishes legal, accounting or other managerial assistance. A "criminal syndicate" is an association of ten or more persons for engaging on a continuing basis in felonies of the following character: illicit trafficking in narcotics or other dangerous substances, liquor, weapons, or stolen goods; gambling; prostitution; extortion; bribery; theft of property having an aggregated value of more than $100,000; engaging in a criminal usury business; counterfeiting; bankruptcy or insurance frauds by arson or otherwise; and smuggling. If more than ten persons are so associated, any group of ten or more associates is a "criminal syndicate" although it is or was only a part of a larger association. Association, within the meaning of this subsection, exists among persons engaged in carrying on the criminal operation although:

(a) associates may not know each other's identity;

(b) membership in the association may change from time to time; and

(c) associates may stand in a wholesaler-retailer or other arm's length relationship in an illicit distribution operation.

(6) Commencement of Prosecution.

(a) A prosecution is commenced upon the filing of a complaint before a judicial officer of the United States empowered to issue a warrant or upon the filing of an Indictment or information. Commencement of prosecution for one offense shall be deemed commencement of prosecution for any included offense.

(b) A prosecution shall be deemed to have been timely commenced notwithstanding that the period of limitation has expired:

(i) for an offense included in the offense charged, if as to the offense charged the period of limitation has not expired or there is no such period, and there is, after the evidence on either side is closed at the trial, sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction of the offense charged; or

(ii) or any offense to which the defendant enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.