Bindinglaw

US · guidelines

U.S.S.G. §2A1.4

Involuntary Manslaughter

activein force · 2018-11-01 – presentact-effective-date

(a) Base Offense Level:

(1) 12, if the offense involved criminally negligent conduct; or

(2) (Apply the greater):

(A) 18, if the offense involved reckless conduct; or

(B) 22, if the offense involved the reckless operation of a means of

transportation.

(b) Special Instruction

(1) If the offense involved the involuntary manslaughter of more than one

person, Chapter Three, Part D (Multiple Counts) shall be applied as

if the involuntary manslaughter of each person had been contained in

a separate count of conviction.

Commentary

Statutory Provisions: 18 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1841(a)(2)(C), 2199, 2291, 2332b(a)(1). For additional statutory provision(s), see Appendix A (Statutory Index).

Application Note:

1. Definitions.—For purposes of this guideline:

“Criminally negligent” means conduct that involves a gross deviation from the standard of care

that a reasonable person would exercise under the circumstances, but which is not reckless. Offenses with this characteristic usually will be encountered as assimilative crimes.

“Means of transportation” includes a motor vehicle (including an automobile or a boat) and a

mass transportation vehicle. “Mass transportation” has the meaning given that term in 18 U.S.C.

§ 1992(d)(7).

“Reckless” means a situation in which the defendant was aware of the risk created by his conduct and the risk was of such a nature and degree that to disregard that risk constituted a gross

deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in such a situation.

“Reckless” includes all, or nearly all, convictions for involuntary manslaughter under 18 U.S.C.

§ 1112. A homicide resulting from driving a means of transportation, or similarly dangerous actions, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs ordinarily should be treated as reckless.

History

Effective November 1, 1987. Amended effective November 1, 2002 (amendment 637); November 1, 2003 (amendment 652); November 1, 2004 (amendment 663); November 1, 2006 (amendment 685); November 1, 2007 (amendment 699).

Provenance

Source
ussc.gov
Retrieved
2026-09-20
Edition
ussg-2018
Content hash
e77b962c622d214c26827141b2fb0bd0648510de999f8d453ff449848d6bc01f
View the official source →

The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.

Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.

Coverage · API docs

Bindinglaw

Point-in-time US law with the receipt attached. Source URL, retrieval time, content hash, and validity dates on every answer.

curl api.binding.law/v1/law/coverage

© 2026 binding.law · a Jubal, Inc. productAttorneys and firms never pay. Ever.