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Federal disputes involving unpaid drug debts, missing narcotics, or lost trafficking proceeds can lead to charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1201, the federal kidnapping statute, and 18 U.S.C. § 1951, commonly known as the Hobbs Act. A person accused of detaining someone to recover drugs, money, or inform...

21 U.S.C. § 841 is the primary federal law prohibiting the knowing or intentional manufacture, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. 18 U.S.C. § 1716 separately prohibits knowingly using the U.S. Mail to send certain nonmailable dangerous or injurious items,...

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 659, makes it a crime to steal, embezzle, unlawfully take, or obtain by fraud goods that are moving as part of an interstate or foreign shipment. 18 U.S.C. § 659 covers cargo moving through trucks, railroads, ships, aircraft, pipelines, warehouses, freight terminals, and ...

18 U.S.C. § 1831 is the federal economic espionage statute. It makes it a crime to knowingly steal, copy, receive, possess, or transmit a trade secret while intending or knowing that the conduct will benefit a foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent. The statute also covers ...

18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(A) makes it a federal crime for an agent of certain federally funded organizations or state, local, or tribal governments to embezzle, steal, fraudulently obtain, knowingly convert, or intentionally misapply property worth $5,000 or more. In practical terms, this law can app...

Federal law can expose a person who knowingly finances a large-scale cocaine operation to the same drug penalties faced by people who physically distribute the drugs. Under a number of federal laws, including 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846, together with 18 U.S.C. § 2, prosecutors ...

18 U.S.C. § 641 and 10 U.S.C. § 921 (UCMJ Art. 121) address theft, embezzlement, conversion, and wrongful taking of government or military property. These laws can apply when weapons, night vision devices, optics, ammunition, electronics, vehicle parts, or other defense supplies are diverted from...

A statutory mandatory minimum sentence doesn't have to mean a mandatory prison term. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), qualifying defendants convicted of certain federal drug and maritime offenses may be sentenced without regard to an otherwise applicable statutory mandatory minimum. Simply put, the fed...

18 U.S.C. § 1346 defines a “scheme or artifice to defraud” to include a scheme to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services. It works with federal mail and wire fraud statutes, including 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343, rather than creating a standalone offense. In Skilling v. United ...

18 U.S.C. § 1957 makes it a federal crime to knowingly engage in a qualifying monetary transaction involving more than $10,000 in property derived from specified unlawful activity. For real estate developers, investors, and principals, the statute can apply when prosecutors allege that criminal p...

7 U.S.C. § 13(a)(2) makes certain violations of the Commodity Exchange Act federal felonies, including specified forms of market manipulation. Spoofing is separately prohibited by 7 U.S.C. § 6c(a)(5)(C), which makes it unlawful to place a bid or offer with the intent to cancel before execution. 1...

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2320, federal law criminalizes intentionally trafficking in goods or services while knowingly using a counterfeit mark. In an increasingly virtual marketplace, federal enforcement is no longer limited to physical merchandise seized at U.S. ports of entry. Prosecutions investigat...

Federal wiretaps are governed by Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, including 18 U.S.C. § 2518. Before a federal judge can authorize a wiretap, the government must establish probable cause and satisfy the statute's separate necessity requirement. If the wiretap applicati...

18 U.S.C. § 3146 makes it a federal crime for a person released under the Bail Reform Act to knowingly fail to appear in court as required or fail to surrender for service of a sentence. For international executives, dual citizens, and foreign nationals, a missed federal appearance can involve tr...

15 U.S.C. § 78m(b)(5) prohibits a person from knowingly circumventing or knowingly failing to implement a system of internal accounting controls, or knowingly falsifying a book, record, or account covered by the Securities Exchange Act. Criminal enforcement requires the government to proceed thro...

18 U.S.C. § 892 makes it a federal crime to make or conspire to make an “extortionate extension of credit,” while 18 U.S.C. § 894 prohibits knowingly participating in extortionate means to collect a debt or punish nonpayment. These statutes can apply to private lending, high-yield financing, and ...

18 U.S.C. § 208 prohibits an officer or employee of the federal executive branch from participating personally and substantially in a particular government matter when the employee knows that the matter will have a direct and predictable effect on the employee's financial interest, or certain fin...

18 U.S.C. § 1027 makes it a federal crime to knowingly make a false statement or representation of fact, or knowingly conceal or fail to disclose required information, in documents required by Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The statute can apply to Form 55...

18 U.S.C. § 1071 makes it a federal crime to harbor or conceal a person for whom a warrant or other legal process has been issued, when the person providing the assistance knows about the warrant and acts to prevent the person's discovery and arrest. The statute is particularly significant for sp...

12 U.S.C. § 1818(j) makes it a federal crime for a person subject to an order under § 1818(e) or § 1818(g) to knowingly participate, directly or indirectly, in the affairs of a covered financial institution without prior written approval from the appropriate federal financial institutions regulat...

18 U.S.C. § 215 makes it a federal crime to corruptly give, offer, or promise something of value to influence or reward an officer, director, employee, agent, or attorney of a financial institution in connection with the institution's business. The statute also prohibits covered bank personnel fr...

18 U.S.C. § 541 is a federal felony statute that criminalizes the practice of knowingly entering imported goods at less than their true weight or measure, under a false classification regarding quality or value, or by paying less than the customs duty legally due. Federal agencies, including U.S...

18 U.S.C. § 549 is a federal felony statute enforcing border security and commercial supply chain integrity by criminalizing the unauthorized removal of cargo from customs custody, tampering with official customs seals, and malicious entry into bonded warehouses. U.S. Customs and Border Protectio...

Under 18 U.S.C. § 1511, it is a federal crime for two or more individuals to conspire to obstruct state or local law enforcement with the specific intent to facilitate an illegal gambling operation. Designed to target police corruption and political payoff schemes that allow vice rings to flouris...

18 U.S.C. § 2314 makes it a federal crime to transport, transmit, or transfer stolen, converted, or fraudulently obtained goods, merchandise, securities, or money worth $5,000 or more in interstate or foreign commerce while knowing the property was stolen, converted, or taken by fraud. The statut...