Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 4.djvu/162



state: Provided, always, That if such offender shall be tried for such offence, and acquitted or convicted thereof, in any competent court of such foreign state or sovereign, he shall not be subject to another trial in any court of the United States.

. And be it further enacted, That, if any person or persons, upon the high seas, or in any arm of the sea, or in any river, haven, creek, basin, or bay, within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and out of the jurisdiction of any particular state, shall, by surprise or by open force or violence, maliciously attack, or set upon, any ship or vessel belonging in whole or part, to the United States, or any citizen or citizens thereof, or to any other person whatsoever, with an intent unlawfully to plunder the same ship or vessel, or to despoil any owner or owners thereof of any moneys, goods, or merchandise, laden on board thereof, every person so offending, his or her counsellors, aiders, or abettors, shall be deemed guilty of felony; and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment and confinement to hard labour, not exceeding ten years, according to the aggravation of the offence.

. And be it further enacted, That, if any person or persons, upon the high seas, or in any other of the places aforesaid, with intent to kill, rob, steal, commit a rape, or to do or perpetrate any other felony, shall break or enter any ship or vessel, boat, or raft; or if any person or persons shall, wilfully and maliciously, cut, spoil, or destroy, any cordage, cable, buoys, buoy-rope, headfast, or other fast, fixed to any anchor or moorings, belonging to any ship, vessel, boat, or raft; every person, so offending, his or her counsellors, aiders, and abettors, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not exceeding one thousand dollars, and by imprisonment and confinement to hard labour, not exceeding five years, according to the aggravation of the offence.

. And be it further enacted, That, if any person or persons, upon the high seas, or in any of the places aforesaid, shall buy, receive, or conceal, or aid in concealing any money, goods, bank notes, or other effects or things which may be the subject of larceny, which have been feloniously taken or stolen, from any other person, knowing the same to have been taken or stolen, every person, so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be prosecuted therefor, although the principal offender chargeable, or charged with the larceny, shall not have been prosecuted or convicted thereof; and shall on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment and confinement to hard labour, not exceeding three years, according to the aggravation of the offence.

. And be it further enacted, That, if any person or persons shall plunder, steal, or destroy, any money, goods, merchandise, or other effects, from or belonging to any ship or vessel, or boat, or raft, which shall be in distress, or which shall be wrecked, lost, stranded, or cast away, upon the sea, or upon any reef, shoal, bank, or rocks, of the sea, or in any other place within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, or if any person or persons shall wilfully obstruct the escape of any person endeavouring to save his or her life from such ship, or vessel, boat, or raft, or the wreck thereof, or, if any person or persons shall hold out or show any false light, or lights, or extinguish any true light, with intention to bring another ship or vessel, boat or raft, being or sailing upon the sea, into danger, or distress, or shipwreck; every person, so offending, his or her counsellors, aiders, and abettors, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by fine, not exceeding five thousand dollars, and imprisonment and confinement to hard labour, not exceeding ten years, according to the aggravation of the offence.