18 U.S.C. § 484
Section 484 · Connecting parts of different notes
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case United States v. Brown (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Richard L. Meek (July 1992)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whoever so places or connects together different parts of two or more notes, bills, or other genuine instruments issued under the authority of the United States, or by any foreign government, or corporation, as to produce one instrument, with intent to defraud, shall be guilty of forgery in the same manner as if the parts so put together were falsely made or forged, and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §276 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §162, 35 Stat. 1119).
Minor changes in phraseology were made.
Amendments
2001—Pub. L. 107–56 substituted “10 years” for “five years”.
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000”.
Termination Date of 2001 Amendment
Amendments by title III of Pub. L. 107–56 to terminate effective on and after the first day of fiscal year 2005 if Congress enacts a joint resolution that such amendments no longer have the force of law, see section 303 of Pub. L. 107–56, set out as a Four-Year Congressional Review; Expedited Consideration note under section 5311 of Title 31, Money and Finance.